A Dragon's True Power
by griffindork93
Summary: Natsu sacrifices himself instead of Erza, absorbing and gaining the ability to use the Etherion, and discovers the true power of a dragon slayer
1. Chapter 1

'This is the power hidden within,' Erza thought amazed as she watched the pink haired dragon slayer shoot towards Jellal, his flames taking the shape of a dragon.

Her one time childhood best friend impacted the ground with such force that it shook the Tower of Heaven. Natsu, still enveloped in his raging inferno of flames, landed firmly on the blue haired man he had come to hate for no reason other than making Erza cry.

'I've never seen so much power. It's incredible!' the red headed warrior was amazed.

How could she not be? While the Etherion may have provided the necessary power to allow Natsu to use his more powerful attacks that she had not even known he had learned, it was still Natsu that possessed the seemingly endless and unbreakable will to consume the Ether-nano and turn it into a viable power source.

Instead of poisoning him as it should have done, Natsu had somehow managed to harness the energy of pure magic strong enough to level kingdoms, and it was something Erza "Titania" Scarlet had never heard of being possible.

'What an incredible man you've grown to be,' she thought fondly, remembering the many times the hyperactive dragon slayer had challenged her. He never gave up then; always fighting until I put him into the infirmary. 'I can't believe who you have become while I wasn't looking.'

Natsu stood slowly and turned to face Erza, who was still lying on the ground where he had knocked her out earlier. He smiled brightly at her.

The loss of magical energy caught up to him, causing him to pitch forward onto his knees.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Erza struggled to get her feet under her, catching the flame user before he completely collapsed and held him close to her, his head resting on her breast. A hand carded through his spiky pink locks gently as she bestowed a soft smile on the unknowing dragon slayer. 'I never could have believed you had the ability to defeat Jellal, Natsu. The amount of strength you possess is incredible, and you still have time to grow and improve even further.'

The female wizard was jolted out of her thoughts abruptly as the R-System trembled violently. Rays of Ether-nano burst forth as the overwhelming energy continued to grow more unstable and prepared to obliterate the giant lacrima tower.

She pulled Natsu's right over her shoulders and began to make her way out of the tower of her nightmares, supporting the unconscious dragon slayer. 'Even if we do escape the tower,' she thought, 'we won't get away. The blast radius is too large.' The S-class mage despaired.

As she looked about hopelessly for a solution, a realization struck her. Jellal had said his sacrifice would be infused with the lacrima and the power from the Etherion flowing through it. If she returned inside the lacrima, Erza thought she would be able to control the impending explosion of magical energy.

The red head laid Natsu on the ground and tentatively rested one hand against the lacrima. It sank in up to her elbow. "Good." Erza spoke aloud, although there was nobody to hear. "I thought it would reject me."

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu blinked as he come to, squinting to protect his dragon sensitive eyes from the light that could blind him when his eyes were closed. What had happened to him? Did he beat Jellal? Was Erza okay? And where was she?

His eyes widened as he finally registered the sight before him. Erza was being pulled into the lacrima again. "I don't understand. Why are you going back in there Erza?" the pinkette asked.

The girl that he had thought of as scary since the day he had joined Fairy Tail turned to face him, tears falling down the left side of her face. She explained. "If I fuse my body with the lacrima, I should be able to control the Ether-nano and the blast from the pent up energy."

Natsu's eyes widened further as he stared incredulously at Erza. "NO! There must be some other way! Don't do this Erza! You don't have to do this!" He scrambled over to her, half walking half crawling to do so. "There has to be something I can do! Don't sacrifice yourself! Don't give up your life! That's what he wanted! Let me take your place!" he cried.

"Please let me do this, Natsu. It's my turn to save you now. "Erza reached her free arm out to cup his cheek. "I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I did not know you, Natsu. Who would I be without Fairy Tail? A slave forced to labor to build this horrendous tower. I'm willing to make the ultimate sacrifice so my loved ones, my nakama, and the guild will be safe," she said, tears still falling from her real eye.

The pink haired dragon slayer cried and screamed as he pounded against the crystal that had engulfed his friend. He had never felt so helpless and defeated in his life. He had protected and saved Erza from Jellal, but he had lost her to him anyway because of this cursed tower.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Erza was surprised to find herself feeling calm and relaxed, floating in a sea of blue light in a flowing white sundress with a v-neck that showed less cleavage than she usually did. 'It doesn't hurt.' She closed her chocolate eyes, happy in the knowledge that she had saved Natsu this time. 'Dying doesn't hurt. It feels like I've fallen asleep.'

A familiar hand wrapped around her wrist. The red head's eyes snapped open in disbelief to stare silently at her spiky pink haired friend. He flashed his signature large, bright grin as he pulled her towards him and hugged the Re-Quip user to his chest.

"You don't die for your friends, Erza," he whispered softly, "you live for them."

Erza was given a mighty shove by Fairy Tail's most destructive wizard before she had a chance to process what he had said. She found herself sprawled face down on the crystal floor of the tower that had haunted her sleep for many years.

"You live for your friends," she repeated Natsu's words numbly. Then realization came to her. For her to be on top of the tower, "Natsu took my place. He saved me again." Erza was horrified. She knew the dragon slayer was a capable wizard, stronger than most, but was Natsu strong enough to control the Ether-nano?

The lacrima tower was shaking as the Ether-nano began to escape its unsteady confinement. The physical force the Ether-nano exerted prevented Erza from moving as the power leaked from the tower and began to build up.

Blue rays of Ether-nano shot into the sky. The Re-Quip mage succumbed to darkness with Natsu's name on her lips.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

The pink haired dragon slayer was confused. More so than usual.

The sky was gray and cloudy. It was raining and quite frankly depressing.

All of Fairy Tail was gathered in front of a grave stone. Natsu stared at the name engraved.

Natsu Dragneel.

'A funeral. My funeral.' His brain seemed to shut down. 'I'm dead.'

A stoic Gray, actually wearing clothes, was holding a wailing Lucy in his arms, doing the best he could to console the celestial wizard who had been brought to Fairy Tail by Natsu, despite the ice make wizard looking like he himself was moments away from falling apart.

Natsu was surprised to see Gildarts and Mystogan, for the two S-class wizards were hardly ever at the guild, always out on long and dangerous jobs. Even Laxus looked a little teary eyed, and the dragon slayer was pretty sure the lightning wizard had hated his guts since he had joined and would be glad to see him dead.

The only person he didn't see was Erza. But he wasn't sure he wanted to. The Queen of the Fairies would take the death of any Fairy Tail wizard hard, most likely blaming herself. (Even if she wasn't even present. It would be just like her to take the blame because she wasn't there.)

He didn't want to see her break down at his funeral. Although, considering the long, albeit strange, friendship they had since they were young, Natsu hurt and disappointment at her absence.

"Natsu Dragneel was a man of courage and strength. Of love and hope. He had absolute faith in the guild and its members, who were his family." Master Makarov's voice shook. "He was the embodiment of Fairy Tail. Always striving to get stronger. Always looking for the next challenge. He never backed down, always putting all of himself into the fight without a thought as to the consequences.

"Fairy Tail's name came from the question of whether fairies have tails, and because it is a mystery that may never be answered, for fairies might not even exist, Fairy Tail wizards continue to grow on an eternal adventure, searching for answers.

"Natsu Dragneel, Fairy Tail's "Salamander," shall always be remembered by the guild. Fairy Tail won't be the same without him."

The third guild master was crying by this point, and the end of his eulogy was difficult to understand due to the sudden tightness of this throat.

No one else stepped forward to speak on his behalf. The entire guild paid respect to their fallen member in a silence that was only broken with the arrival of three member of the wizard council.

The old man spoke." Natsu Dragneel exhibited great courage and skill in his defense of the magical nation and prevention of the resurrection of the Black Wizard Zeref. For these deeds, the wizard council has unanimously decided to award him the title of one of the Ten Wizard Saints posthumously."

"That's of no use to me dead, you old geezer!" Natsu yelled. "I can't rub it in the ice block head's face that I'm stronger than he is if I'm dead!" The complete unfairness of the situation. The spiky pink haired mage receives an award and recognition from the council itself, and he can't take advantage of it because he's dead.

The scene before him changed. Gone was his funeral. He still thought it weird to witness his own funeral. In its place was his house. Was it still his house now that he was dead? Then again, maybe this wasn't his house. Natsu noticed it was much cleaner than his normally was.

The answer to the unusual neatness of his home was in his bedroom. It had been turned into a storage place for some of Erza's favorite armors; he recognized the Flame Empress and Heaven's Wheel. The red headed mage appeared to have moved in, judging by the fact that she was currently sleeping in his hammock.

'Or is it former hammock,' Natsu thought morbidly, 'now that I'm dead?'

The scent of salt reached his nose. Could it be that Erza was crying?

'But she's not supposed to cry anymore!' The dragon slayer was enraged. He had fought that bastard Jellal and sacrificed himself to end her nightmares and stop her tears. All he seemed to have accomplished was give her more nightmares and another reason to cry. 'Erza's not supposed to cry,' Natsu thought again. 'How can I fix this?'

Despair filled Natsu as he realized that it was impossible. The only way to fix the situation was to make Erza smile, and in order for that to happen he would have to be alive. The fire mage had never felt this useless, not even when his motion sickness made him unable to fight. There was nothing he could do to make his friend smile because he was dead, and he couldn't return from the dead.

He forced himself to look away.

Natsu found himself floating in an unending sea of black. He could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing. The only thing he felt was disgust for himself. He prided himself on always keeping his word, and he had failed to keep a promise he made to Erza. To always be there when she needed him.

A flame sparked in his stomach and grew. "I refuse to give up so easily!" he roared. "I refuse! I won't accept death with welcoming arms! I AM NOT DEAD!"

His magic flared, lashing out and burning the surrounding darkness. Natsu found himself standing on shaking legs on the beach of an unknown island. The strength in his legs gave and he fell onto his knees exhausted.

Drawing on his stubbornness and vast will power, the pink haired dragon slayer crawled further up the beach and away from the water, and collapsed, quite anticipating being able to rest. He had no concept of how much time had passed since he had "died" and his service took place. But none of that mattered to him.

All Natsu cared about was getting back to Fairy Tail. To Lucy and Gray. To Happy. To Gramps. To Erza.


	2. Chapter 2

Erza thought she knew what she must look like based on Lucy's urging she take a shower. According to Gray, she had not gone on a job with them in weeks, (seven weeks to be exact, ever since he had died) and although Master Makarov had convinced her landlady to waive last month's rent to allow her time to grieve, she knew he could not do so again. Happy had resorted to bringing her fish to remind her to eat.

But she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to care for herself anymore. She couldn't bring herself to take a job and pretend that someone wasn't missing from their team. It hurt to even think about their team, whose name they left unchanged in remembrance of him. It killed her to know that he was fighting beside her and that she no longer had someone she trusted to back her up. She couldn't bring herself to eat, remembering fondly all the times he had stuffed himself like there was no tomorrow, and realize that he would never do so again.

She couldn't drag herself to the guild, knowing it would be much quieter and less rowdy without him screaming insults, picking fights, and proclaiming challenges. She couldn't possibly face the rest of the guild when it was her fault he was gone. She couldn't bring herself to leave his house, never mind his room and hammock most times, which was all she had left of him.

She was drowning in a sea of darkness and despair, lost with no way out. Her friends could not help her. Only he could. He was her hope. Her bright light. Her shining knight. And he was gone, and she was gone with him.

Erza had believed him indestructible. Nothing had ever stopped him from what he wanted when he was on a mission. He always succeeded in achieving his goal. She missed his smiles. She physically ached at the thought of never seeing it again. Bright and wide and always present. As happy as the flying cat he had named. Excited and eager and raring to go. And despite his apparent cluelessness, he knew when to be serious. His willingness to protect and defend.

She wished for all these things to be possible again. But slavery had taught that wishes were useless, for they would never be granted. The false hope a wish for the impossible gave only tortured souls. As would this one, for no amount of wishing would return him to her.

Erza ignored her friends' desperate pleas and huddled into his hammock. She breathed in deeply, inhaling the natural earthy, ashy and woody scent that was his, for that was all she has left of him. His fading scent and her own memories.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

The celestial wizard sighed deeply as she trudged home after another failed attempt to get some kind, or any kind or reaction really, out of Erza. Ever since he had died, she had remained laying in that hammock, clinging onto a hope that died a little more each day as she expected him to return and was disappointed each day.

Lucy found herself at a loss. He was the one who had brought her to Fairy Tail, which had become her home and family. The blonde owed him so much for giving her the chance to join the guild of her dreams, and she couldn't even help their friend.

She opened the door to her 70,000 Jewel apartment and surveyed it with large brown eyes. Did the room seem duller?

Yes, it was. Not in a literal sense. The blue paint on the walls was as bright as ever and her pink bedspread and colorful knickknacks certainly added a lot of color. The room was as bright and cheery as ever. But it wasn't as lively.

She imagined him sitting at her desk, rummaging through the drawers, attempting to read her story while teasing her. Lucy had not finished it yet, and now she doubted she ever would. Inspiration was lost to Fairy Tail's resident celestial mage. Who knew when it would return, for her muse, her team's excitement and adventures, was gone with him.

Tears sprung unbidden to her eyes. She regretted furiously snatching her manuscript from him. He would never know how the story would unfold because someone had ended his story far too early.

The blonde threw herself onto her bed, but this did not help. She remembered all the times he had snuck into her bed and slept besides her, claiming her bed was the most comfortable and that he got the best night's sleep there. She remembered how he always entered and left through her window, despite her (many) loud protests that he use the door like a normal person.

And that was the crux of the problem. He wasn't a normal person. He was extremely loyal and would defend his nakama to his dying breath.

Her wish that he was normal was halfhearted. If he were normal she would have never been accepted to Fairy Tail. Her chance meeting with him was the best thing that ever happened to her, all because he wasn't normal. He wouldn't let anyone besmirch the name of his guild.

She went to sleep with new resolve. Lucy would make sure Erza got back into the motion or real life, because without her people would begin to doubt Fairy Tail's strength, and he would never let that happen. So neither would she.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Gray Fullbuster stretched silently on the bank of the river, witness to many of their fights as children. The ice mage hated to admit it, even if it was only to himself, but he missed him.

He had lost many people when Deliora attacked his village. People he had cared for. His parents. Grandparents. An aunt that always pinched his cheeks upon greeting (something he had hated due to he extremely well kempt sharp nails). His two best friends. The demon had wiped them all out.

The black haired boy had promised himself not to feel attachment to anyone else, lest they make him feel again before crushing his already broken heart when they, too, died. His heart shattered a second time when Ul, his teacher who had become like a second mother and a sister, sacrificed herself to seal the demon because of a stupid mistake he made.

The creation wizard studied the river, flowing smoothly with the barest of ripples. Should the river not be a torrent, twisting and thrashing, trying to break free from the confines of the embankment like the fluctuating emotions bursting inside him? Why should the river be calm when he was in turmoil?

Even when they had fought when younger, Gray had never once believed that he was beatable, despite the many wins he professed to have over him. And yet it had happened. Someone had finally beaten him, (and not even someone but himself from what little they could get from Erza's incoherent mumbling), and with that destroyed what little heart he had remaining.

Gray cried for the first time since his mentor had died as he watched the sun set. The sky, normally so blue, seemed to bleed, turning shades of red, orange, yellow, and pink. It reminded him of flames. Dying flames, which would vanish forever, just like his brother did.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Master Makarov observed the guild hall over his tankard of ale. The hall itself was unchanged, but his children were not. It had been five weeks since his funeral and seven total since his death, but the loss of one of its own was hitting the guild hard, for his lack of presence was all too noticeable given the complete silence that covered the hall. Not normal at all.

The remaining members of his team rarely visited, only stopping by to grab the first available job, aside from Erza who never came at all. Come to think of it, Makarov hadn't seen Happy since the funeral. 'I wonder where that flying furball could have gone?' The old wizard shook his head and continued his survey of the dining area.

He noticed Nab, notorious for standing in front of the request board for weeks looking for the perfect job for him, had finally chosen one, and Fairy Tail's third guild master couldn't help but wonder if he would be screaming his victory to the heavens because his death had put an end to Nab's indecisiveness, or enraged he wasn't alive to witness it.

Cana was drowning herself in alcohol, as usual. She didn't seem to be upset. Although there appeared to be many more barrels surrounding the card magic wizard than usual, so maybe she was attempting to drink her sorrows.

Mirajane seemed to be operating the bar on autopilot, attending to her guild mates without the usual smile or joy. She only seemed genuine when she was comforting Elfman (who spent a lot of time crying because a real man cries when he is sad). But there was always a haunted look present in her eyes, similar to when their sister Lisanna died. Perhaps she the demon thought the situation would have ended differently if she had gone along. Maybe that was why she had requested to become an active mage again.

Team Shadowgear was currently on a mission. The team of three didn't seem very affected, but they had never spent much time with him so they didn't have close ties with him. However, Levy was worried about Lucy, and because she cared, by extension, so did Jet and Droy.

The old man had never seen Gildarts so crushed as he did when the S-class wizard had returned from three month long job with his standard souvenir and the rumors of a dragon sighting with a promise to go investigate only to find the boy he considered a son was dead. The crash magic user had cried and raged, completely demolishing one of the guild's walls, and then rushed to the cemetery.

Even his grandson was affected, which quite surprised Makarov because he was certain Laxus Drayer hated the "snot-nosed fire eating brat," being of the opinion that his flames had fried his brain. Maybe the boy's constant annoyance at his challenges wasn't as profound as it appeared to be.

Most surprising was Mystogan. He was unaware the secretive wizard had any ties beyond that of guild mates. And Makarov was quite sure that any relationship between the two would be known to all due to his mouth. So the question was why was the wizard always shrouded in a cloak that preemptively put everyone in the guild to sleep so as to go unnoticed so concerned by his death? As the only one to remain conscious during such visits, Makarov knew the two had never interacted, so why did Mystogan care?

The remainder of the guild was subdued and somber. While having no personal ties, the constant ruckus he caused was a never ending source of entertainment for them. Without him they seemed dull, lacking personality.

The two recent additions to Fairy Tail felt uneasy and out of place. Juvia had never even met him, but she proclaimed to love Gray and he was depressed. Gajeel Redfox had isolated himself. Makarov had hoped that the iron dragon slayer would develop close ties to the guild through Fairy Tail's own dragon slayer, but that hope was dashed with his death.

The old man felt lost. He considered him to be one of his children, like he did all members of his guild. But Makarov had believed their bond to be more personal, almost like a second grandson. Sure the boy caused him numerous headaches and mountains of paperwork and brought the ire of the wizard council upon them, but he had had the strongest heart and a will of fire so passionate it shone.

Natsu Dragneel was someone of the likes of which Makarov had never met before, and as tears slid down the sides of his face, once which he would never again encounter.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu grinned with a combination of relief and happiness as he spotted the town of Hargeon's port on the horizon. A few more beats of his fiery wings, the pink haired mage landed on the awakening docks unnoticed.

He let out his breath in a whoosh, nearly collapsing. The sheer joy of being back was overwhelming. Natsu was so close to returning home. An hour's walk and he would be in Magnolia. He could already see the guild's large front doors before him.

The dragon slayer straightened and set off, the prospect of reuniting with Lucy, Gray, Happy, and Erza at the forefront of his mind.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu soaked in the picture Fairy Tail made in the early morning. There were bound to be very few wizards actually inside at this time of day. With the largest smile he had worn since Igneel had found him, the pink haired dragon slayer pushed the door inward.


	3. Chapter 3

The guild was emptier than Natsu had thought it would be. He knew the majority of his guild mates would still be asleep at seven in the morning. But honestly. He was expecting at least a handful of people to actually be in the guild.

Like Nab. Where was he? The guy never moved from his position in front of the request board. And Mirajane made a point of arriving before anyone else in the guild, except for the master.

Makarov!

'Gramps should be around here somewhere,' Natsu thought.

The fire mage headed upstairs to the old man's office, one of the only times he was allowed on the second floor of the building. Gramps and Mirajane kept a very close eye on him since the Galuna Island incident in which he snuck up to the second floor, really he had Happy take the job request from the board, and gone off on an unauthorized S-class job.

He took one last look at the hall that as unnaturally empty before he knocked on the master's door.

The third guild master yelled for him to come in if he must, and Natsu opened the door bemoaning the fact that his dramatic return from the dead was spoiled because nobody was there.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Makarov Drayer rubbed his eyes tiredly, mentally cursing paperwork. He had been up all night replying to more complaints from the wizard council about his mages causing property damage to some monument or another that he had never heard of. Sometimes the old wizard swore that the members of his guild were trying to pull off levels of destruction that only Natsu had been capable of for no reason other than to cause him grief.

He glared at the piece of paper in his hands. Maybe if he wished hard enough, this particular problem, something about a bridge that Romeo (which of his mages was daft enough to take a young boy with no control over his destructive magic on a job with them) had razed to the ground, and every other bit of paperwork that had prevented him from sleeping would go find someone else to bother. Someone who actually cared.

Makarov groaned and resisted the urge to thread his hands through his hair. He if that happened he would end up pulling out hair, and he didn't have much left.

He relieved his frustration by dreaming about using his giant form to crush the man stupid enough to create paperwork that had to be filled out and filed for everything. The paperwork might still be there, but at least he would get some satisfaction. If he had to suffer, so did the originator of paperwork.

The guild master was just finishing putting his signature on the last of the forms to pay for the damage his guild caused, his least favorite but most popular form, when a knock sounded on his door.

He stopped himself from putting his enlarged fist through the door. If he was being interrupted this early in the morning it must be important. He granted whoever it was permission to enter as he placed the huge stack of papers in the folder that would transfer them over to the wizard council to be filed properly.

"Alright, brat. What do you wa. . ." Makarov trailed off.

He blinked once. Twice. Thrice. He rubbed his eye again, convinced that what he was seeing was caused by an overactive imagination, over working, and sleep depravity, because there was just no way that the spiky pink haired dragon slayer who had died seven weeks ago was standing in his doorway.

It just was not possible.

"Hey Gramps. Where is everybody? The guild is silent as the grave. There was nobody here when I came in. Even Mira's gone. Just where did they all go?" Natsu rambled.

THUMP!

Natsu stopped talking mid question when he finally noticed that the steadily paling master had fainted.

Well, he thought as he sat down to wait, 'I got to surprise one person. How cool is it that it's the old man?'

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Master Makarov had come around half an hour later to realize that it was not his imagination and that his favorite troublemaker was really alive and sitting here in his office. He listened astounded to Natsu's tale. He found it hard to believe, but accepted it as the truth because it was Natsu telling the story, and the boy was the absolute worst liar he had ever met.

"Well, my boy, I'm glad to have you back. And I'm sure everyone else will feel the same. The guild has been lifeless since you died," he said. "Your teammates took it particularly hard, especially Erza. But I'm sure you already knew that."

The pinkette in front of him nodded, eyes downcast. Of course he knew his stunt would hurt his friends, and from what he had been told earlier, it sounds like he saw exactly how much.

"I think Gildarts fared the worst," he continued. Natsu's head shot up to look at him in surprise. Sure, he had been close to Gildarts since he had first joined. He challenged him to a fight every time he returned, but he hadn't seen how his death had affected him. He had only seen his funeral and Erza.

"Right," Natsu leapt to his feet, "then I'll go see him now and. . ."

The dragon slayer's exit was barred by Gramps's hand.

"What are you doing, old man? I need to go see Gildarts. Get out of the way."

"Just a minute now, Natsu. There are still some things we need to talk about."

Natsu eyed the guild master and the appendage blocking his path. He reluctantly sat back down knowing from previous experience that any attempt to go against the master's wishes would earn him an oversized fist to the head.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

The dragon slayer eyed the door he stood outside of warily, as if it would bite off his wrist if he knocked. He couldn't understand why he was hesitating. He had been to Gildarts's home many times, and it's not like he was brining bad news. Actually, his being alive was damn good news in his opinion. Gildarts would be overjoyed to know that he wasn't really dead.

So why was Natsu scared to knock on the man's door?

Maybe he could wait until Gildarts left and then sneak in and wait for the older man's return. Then he would be able to shock two people in one day and avoid confrontation with the wizard that needed to keep constant control of his magic or hit would destroy anything he touched.

Natsu knew he was afraid that Gildarts magic would lash out at him if he surprised the man, so he supposed he had to choose the lesser of two evils. Appearing on his doorstep was much less surprising than coming home to find someone you believed to be dead sitting in your house.

The pinkette quickly rapped on the door before he could change his mind for the sixty somethingth time, pulling it back so fast that it looked like he had been scalded.

There was a thunk from within, and then the sound of muffled footsteps reached his ears.

'Alright. Deep breaths, Natsu. You can do this. Just explain it like you did with Gramps.' He thought.

Gildarts Clive opened his door. Natsu smiled up nervously at the man who towered over him.

Before he could open his mouth to explain, Gildarts had punched him in the face.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu groaned. "Hey, what's the big idea Gildarts!" his voiced squeaked.

The dragon slayer was having a mini panic attack. Just what had Gildarts done to him? His voice had never squeaked before in his life.

"What did you do to me? Fix me!" He shook his fist up at the taller man. What a minute. He knew that Gildarts was tall, but since when had he only come up to the top of his boots?

Gildarts was looking a little pale. Afraid that he was going to faint like Gramps had, Natsu looked around frantically for something to help his friend, only to nearly give himself a heart attack.

Brawling behind was a swarm of mini Natsu clones. Just what the hell had Gildarts done to him? Forget fainting, the pinkette was going to beat the S-class mage unconscious.

The horde of mini Natsus leapt at Gildarts, their fists alight with flames screaming Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu had barely finished telling his story when Gildarts threw himself at him. Then he was left gasping for breath because the older man was trying to crush his bones without the use of magic.

"I'm so glad you're not dead," the orange haired man had muttered repeatedly.

"Me too, Gildarts. No way, I couldn't kick the bucket before I beat Erza!"

Gildarts laughed uproariously and strengthened his hold on the pink haired teen.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu was irritated. He had spent the past two hours searching for his constant companion. How hard could it be to find a talking, flying blue cat?

The answer: ridiculously difficult.

He hadn't seen Happy at the guild, and he wasn't out his house during the vision, so Natsu reasoned the next logical place for his best friend to stay was at Lucy's place. He peeked through the girl's window, hoping in to see Happy digging into a plate of fish the blonde always had for him, but he wasn't there either.

And if he wasn't at his place, the guild, or Lucy's apartment, the dragon slayer had no clue where his furry friend could be.

The pinkette trudged through the forest. Had Happy taken his death so hard that he had left Fairy Tail permanently? But where would he go if he did that? Fairy Tail was Happy's home. He had found his egg, and together, Natsu and Lisanna had built a house to raise him in.

That's it! How could Natsu have forgotten the hut he and Lisanna had made when she first decided they were going to be Happy's parents? Happy must have returned there.

Natsu grinned, whirling around and dashing towards the hills where he would find the make shift house. There was no doubt in his mind that he would find Happy there.

"HAPPY? ARE YOU THERE, BUD? COME ON OUT, WILL YA!" Natsu hollered.

"NATSU!" Happy barreled out of the one room house and straight into the dragon slayer's outstretched and waiting arms. "I KNEW IT! I knew you couldn't be dead. What took you so long, Natsu?"

"Just so magical exhaustion and the bad luck of being stranded god knows where. Wait till you see this new move I made. It is so cool. Way cooler than anything that stripper is capable of." Natsu continued to tell Happy everything that had happened to him, gloating all about his new spell which gave him his own fiery dragon's wings and how they could now fly together.

The two fell right back into their easy companionship that came from three years of always being together, teasing each other and trading insults as if the last seven weeks had never happened. To Happy, it certainly seemed that way, now that Natsu was back.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I only just realized this as I was working on this chapter that I had no disclaimer in any of the first three. So here it is.**

**Disclaimer: if I really owned Fairy Tail do you think I would be posting here? It's not mine. T.T**

Natsu had to keep himself from snickering as he crouched in an alcove on the second floor. He couldn't wait to see everyone's reactions to him being back. But who should he surprise first.

'It can't be Erza. She never leaves my house. Plus she would probably kill me for real.' He thought afraid. His red headed friend could be very scary when angered and no doubt she would be mad at him for not coming back immediately. Never mind the fact that he couldn't.

'Gray wouldn't be any fun. The ice bastard would go on like life was normal and just fight him or insult him.' Now that he thought about, Natsu thought he was due a good fight. Maybe he could turn it into a huge brawl involving all the guild members. That would definitely be fun.

'I know! I'll show up at Lucy's house. She always reacts! Screaming and throwing things and screeching her head off. It would be great!'

So absorbed in his plans of sneaking in to Lucy's house, which had never been difficult for him before, he didn't notice the person walking down the hall to the alcove he was hiding in.

Natsu jumped to his feet, punching a fist into the air. He knew exactly what he was going to do. He just needed to get there before . . .

Someone rammed right into him, knocking him to the ground. The dragon slayer glared up at the person who had ran him over and gaped.

Leather pants, purple shirts, large black jacket, weird headphones, spiky blonde hair and scar. It was none other than Laxus. What the hell was he doing here? The smug bastard hardly ever hung around the guild.

"Watch where you're going, shrimp," the lightning wizard sneered.

"Watch where you're going, you bastard. I'll kick your ass, Laxus!" Natsu yelled.

"As if you could you snot nosed brat. I'm at a level way out of your reach. You could never beat me."

"Says you! I'll show you. Let's fight! Right now."

"Get lost, kid."

Laxus turned around and walk away, completely ignoring the younger males screams and threats. He desperately needed a drink. Now his hallucinations were talking.

As he took his regular seat nursing a glass of ale, Laxus realized he had not drunken any alcohol since a couple days ago, therefore he could not be having hallucinations.

He leaned back in his chair, smirking into his drink. This could be interesting.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu was so wrapped up in Lucy's story that he never noticed said girl entering.

"What the hell are you doing in my bedroom, Natsu? I swore I told you to stop coming over unannounced."

Then she noticed the pages held in his hands, which she snatched immediately. "And I told you to stop reading that! I promised Levy she would be the first one."

"But Lucy," the pinkette whined, "how could you kill her. He loved her. She was his reason to keep going. And you just killed her off."

The celestial mage was enraged. How dare he criticize her writing? It was supposed to be a dramatic and heart wrenching story. By killing his lover, she could incite him into rage and fill him with the determination to finish the war before anyone else he loves gets killed. It was the perfect plot.

Besides, what right did Natsu have to insult it? She bet he probably couldn't even read. Of course he wouldn't understand the message in her story. He was much too dense.

Happy chose just then to come flying out of her kitchen. "Luuuucccyyy! Do you have any food that isn't green? I'm starving. Do you have fish? I haven't had fish in ages. You like fish, right Lucy?"

The blonde was successfully sidetracked from her ranting about Natsu's lack of understanding true literature by Happy's antics. Natsu gave his best friend a wink behind her back. He was so sure, once Lucy was done ranting of course, that she would notice that he was sitting on her bed. Which he shouldn't be doing since he was 'dead,' and that would have spoiled their fun if she realized that early.

And, as the dragon slayer and flying cat annoyed Lucy mercilessly until she turned red in the face and seemed ready to explode, Natsu couldn't help but wonder how stupid his blonde teammate was, because he and Happy distracted too many times and far too easily, keeping her from realizing that he was indeed alive. The girl's attention span was much too short.

Lucy was screaming at Virgo, who had randomly come to visit like she usual does, because the maid had insinuated that she was in love with Loke, and now Happy was fluttering around her, out of reach so she couldn't strangle him accidentally, constantly repeating, "You lllllloooooooooovvvvvveee him," and "He lllllllllliiiiiiiikkessssssss you."

"All right!" Natsu exclaimed. Everybody stopped to look at him.

"We haven't gone on a job together in forever, Lucy. Let's go find a really good one. One that will involve lots of fight, cause I haven't fought anybody for a long time. Besides, you need the money to pay your rent, right?"

The pinkette didn't give her a chance to answer, grabbing her by the wrist and jumping out the window. He pulled her along with him as he ran to the guild, Happy flying next to them. All three were smiling and laughing, just like the time he had first brought her to Fairy Tail.

Natsu flashed Lucy a grin. Soon, everyone would know he was back, and then they would all be smiling again.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu scanned the guild, which was now full, looking for a certain stripping ice magic user. The guy with the least amount of clothes shouldn't be hard to spot.

Aha. There he was.

The pinkette dragged Lucy along with him as he approached Gray.

"Put on some freaking clothes, you ice cube! Nobody wants to see your underwear, you frozen bastard." Natsu yelled and punched Gray on the head. Hard.

"What was that for, flame brain? Did all the flames you eat melt your brain?"

"What's that supposed to mean? At least I have a brain."

"You do not you bastard. If you did you wouldn't cause so much destruction."

"I didn't destroy that mountain. It was all your fault!"

"I was talking about the giant crater you made that we had to turn into a lake. But that was your fault too, loser."

Natsu tackled Gray into the table. The table broke under their combined weight, launching Cana, who had been sitting at the end chugging beer, into the air.

She landed on Elfman's back, who yelled that a real man doesn't attack from behind and threw a punch at Natsu, who duck so it hit poor Lucy, who had been standing right next to him.

Virgo and Loke appeared without summoning to protect her. Virgo dug a hole and came out of a complimentary hole she dug under Elfman. Loke turned his glowing hand on Gajeel, who was unlucky enough to have been sitting at the next table.

Juvia, seeing that her beloved was in danger of being strangled by an unknown person, sent a torrent of water at Natsu. The dragon slayer used his fire dragon's roar to turn it to steam.

By this point, everyone in the guild had joined in, and it had become a typical day at Fairy Tail, complete with minor destruction of the guild.

Crash.

Minor destruction and a hole in the wall.

Laxus observed from the second level at the chaos that had befallen the guild the second Natsu had stepped through the doors. And not one of the idiots below him blinked an eye at the fact that Natsu was picking a fight with Gray and starting a guild wide brawl.

He watched as the fist fight turned into a food fight when Levy of all people threw a bowl of pudding at an unsuspecting Reedus, who started painting all sorts of food to throw back.

Laxus stood with a smirk. He'd give the kid credit. It was an interesting plan, getting the whole guild involved in a brawl so that no one noticed he was there until they were all worn out, by which point they wouldn't have the energy to react.

Well, he was the best fighter in the guild, he thought as he slammed a lightning enhanced fist into the ground. And if it was chaos and confusion the kid wanted, he would be happy to help.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Mystogan watched unnoticed from the shadows at the bedlam that had erupted from Natsu's actions. He was so relieved the younger man was not dead. Not just because he hoped to get his help in Edolas with his power crazy father, but because he grown genuinely fond of the pink haired boy.

Mystogan felt his shoulders lighten. He would have felt so guilty if his Earthland self had killed Natsu.

There was just something about him that drew you to him and made you trust him and believe in him.

He drew further into the shadows, waiting for the moment when the massive fight would end and the rest of the guild would realize just who was standing amongst them again.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Master Makarov smiled as he sat behind his desk in his office. He was glad Natsu had informed him of his plan to destroy his guild hall; otherwise he would have been very angry.

And he probably would have interrupted the festivities and put a stop to the fight. Then everyone would have seen that Natsu was back.

Natsu's method was much more fun, and to be honest, the third was so happy to have him back that he didn't mind the havoc and damage that was caused.

Because it meant things would return to normal.

Besides, he could always just order Natsu to clean the place up and fix it.

But not today. That could wait for tomorrow. For now he would revel in the noise his guild was causing, for they had been quiet for too long.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu couldn't have been happier as he watched his nakama enjoy themselves and throw their whole hearts into the fight.

Actually, he could have been. If he had never 'died' in the first place it wouldn't be necessary to make them cheer up, but that was besides the point.

Although it would be perfect if Erza was here, either fighting along side them or hitting them about the heads for such rowdy behavior.

The dragon slayer smiled widely and threw himself back into the mess with a flaming fist to Gray's head.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

She could not believe her eyes.

She blinked, hoping the image would go away, that the guild really was not fight and was instead sitting in silence like they had been for the last almost two months.

But it didn't. She opened her eyes and there they were, stilling fighting.

This is not what she had expected from them.

She cracked her knuckles dangerously, the sound ominous and somehow heard over all the brawling and chaos in front of her.

"Just what it going on here? You will all stop this nonsense this moment and explain yourself or there will be severe consequences."

The entire guild shuddered as one and turned to face the doors of the guild where Erza "Titania" Scarlet was standing, sword in hand and pointing at them.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: still don't own. If I did, this is what would happen.**

Natsu cringed as he heard the familiar sound of knuckles cracking over the din caused by the still ongoing fight. It was a sound that promised pain and always delivered. Quickly and without mercy before explanations and excuses could be said.

"Just what it going on here? You will all stop this nonsense this moment and explain yourselves or there will be severe consequences." Erza demanded. And the pinkette had no doubts that she would follow through on her obvious threats. She never failed to carry through when she threatened. When the red head demanded something, she got it. Denying her was dangerous to one's health.

And it was obvious by her tone that she was displeased. Well, displeased was probably an understatement. That last time he heard her speak so dangerously, he had accidentally knocked her strawberry shortcake to the floor in a fight with Gray.

There was a reason the two of them feared her. She had annihilated them for ruining her precious cake before she could eat it and forced them to clean all the floors in the guild while she supervised, cheerily munching on a new slice of cake. It was the scariest he had ever seen her. And it didn't help that she went from downright pissed to happy like someone had thrown a switch.

She accentuated her point by equipping a sword and pointing it at them.

The whole guild shuddered under her look and parted in the middle, revealing Gray and Natsu, who had frozen while still grappling. Natsu had one arm pressed into Gray's throat and Gray was shoving Natsu's head to the side at an unnatural angle.

Both males stood and hastily threw an arm over the other's shoulder, pretending to be best friends.

It lasted for about five seconds before Gray broke. Self-preservation instincts screamed at him to protect himself from Erza's wrath. "It was Natsu's fault. The flame head attacked me for no reason."

CLANG! Metal clattered to the floor.

Everyone stared at Erza, who had dropped her sword.

The girl had clasped both hands over her mouth, shaking and crying.

"N-n-natsu?"

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

The rest of Fairy Tail was confused. Why on earth would seeing Natsu send Erza to tears? They were on the same team for goodness sake. The poor boy was forever incurring her wrath and by extension her fist.

It was then that realization hit them like one of the master's gigantic fists. Natsu was standing alive in their guild, laughing and starting fights. They had been so wrapped up in the usual excitement that surrounded Natsu that they had forgotten that Natsu clearly wasn't supposed to be there.

Every wizard froze, wondering just what had happened to Natsu. How had he survived a giant explosion of pure magic? And if he wasn't dead, why did it take him seven weeks to return?

Gray was shocked. Natsu was alive. He was _alive._ And that bastard had the nerve to just waltz in and punch him as if he had never been gone. As if he had never caused him pain because he had believed Natsu dead. He had actually cried for him. The first chance he got he was going to kick the flame brain's ass. Maybe a week in the infirmary would make him smarten up.

Lucy cried. She was so glad Natsu was alive. She thought of him as one of her best friends, definitely the one she was closest to. She had been torn by his death. He had brought her to Fairy Tail, making her dream come true. If it wasn't for the fact that Erza was sporting a scary look, she would have hugged him, after slapping him upside the head first. One didn't make a girl cry and not expect double the pain in return.

Eyes flickered between the dragon slayer and the ex-quip mage. How would this confrontation end?

The guild quietly started placing bets. Most bet on Erza murdering Natsu, because she was quite enraged.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Makarov laughed.

He was nearly falling out of his chair as tears streamed down his face. He hadn't laughed this hard in so long.

Judging by the lack of sound and the tangible fear in the air, Erza had finally joined the party.

'Poor Natsu,' he chuckled. Erza showing up certainly hadn't been part of his plan. He winced in sympathy for the boy he favored. She was definitely going to be upset with him.

And an upset Erza was never a good thing. It would take a lot of groveling for Natsu to get back into the Queen of Fairies good book. And a lot of strawberry shortcake.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu stood silently shaking under Erza's suddenly malevolent gaze.

Nothing good ever happened when she gave him that look. The dragon slayer was slightly worried. Erza showing up during the brawl wasn't something he had planned. He has wanted to speak with her privately, because she was the one most hurt by his death.

He owed her a proper apology and explanation. It would have been easier to give if it was just the two of them.

And, honestly, he had no contingency plans. From what old man Makarov had said, she had never left his house in the last seven weeks, so why would he plan for her appearance now?

Now that he was sweating profusely under her glare, he wished he had. It was just like her to do the unexpected and completely destroy his plans. She always got in the way of them before he died, so why wouldn't she continue to do so now.

The look on her face was easy to read and quite clear. It practically screamed at him. There was no way he was coming out of this alive.

And he was right. The red head launched herself across the guild, tackling Natsu and pinning him to the floor by sitting on his chest, her knees firmly planted on his wrist.

Natsu could have dodged, but he knew that Erza needed this. Not to mention he deserved anything she did to him. He really should have gone to her first. He owed her that much since she was to one to see him die.

Her hands wound into the fabric of his vest. She shook him violently.

"How dare you?" she hissed.

"Erza?" Natsu questioned uncertainly.

"You idiot!" she slapped him, leaving behind a pink hand shaped mark on the left side of his face. It was stinging already and would only be sore later.

She pounded her fists into his chest to vent her frustration. All the pain, the hurt, the guilt, the numbness, and the anger she felt at his death. Erza continued to hit every inch of him that she could, trying to express without words just how much pain the pink haired idiot had put her through, trying to make him understand how lost she had felt without him.

"How dare you push me out? Do you know how terrified I was when I realized that you were in that damn crystal? Do you know how worried I was when that tower blew sky high? Or when all the others found me but not you? Do you know how much it killed me to know that you were dead because of me?"

She was growing increasingly red in the face as she screamed at the prone form on the ground beneath her. She paid no attention to the tears falling down her face.

"I blamed myself since you died. It was my fault you were dead. Jellal was after me. And you stupidly rushed in and saved me." Erza stopped yelling, forcibly breathing deep breaths to calm herself.

She was suddenly uncomfortable as she remembered that they were still in front of the entire guild, which stood frozen in place, taking in every word she said to him. She did not want them to witness her talk with Natsu.

Erza stood up quickly, jerking Natsu to his feet with her and dragged him out of the guild by his scarf. He flashed a grin back at the rest of the guild and a thumbs up. They could only hope that Erza didn't kill him again.

Neither said a word until they were safely away from prying ears in his house. They were both seated on opposite ends of his couch. The atmosphere was tense.

"I'm sorry, Erza. I really am." Natsu apologized, breaking the silence first. He stared at the floor, unable to look his friend in the eye.

"Do you know how much I've suffered this last two months?" The raw pain in her voice made him cringe guiltily.

Natsu's neck cracked when he whipped his head up to stare at her.

She continued, her tone dejected. "I had never felt that much pain before. It hurt even worse than when Jellal betrayed me. I blamed myself for your death. You would have never been there if it wasn't for me. You had died in my place."

The dragon slayer reached one arm out hesitantly, and when she didn't flinch from him he rested it on her knee. "It wasn't your fault, Erza. You couldn't have known that the bastard would come after you."

"But you died for me."

"Yes, I did," Natsu said, his voice unnaturally soft spoken. "But you're my friend, Erza. I care for you. Of course I would die for you. I would have done it for Gray or Lucy or anybody else in Fairy Tail."

"But I didn't want you to. It's been tearing me apart that you died for me. I've been so horrible to you, always beating you up, forcing you to get along with Gray, and always ordering you around and demanded you do things. I terrorized you. You should hate me. Why would you save me when I behaved like that?"

"It never bothered me that you were bossy and demanding, Erza. Nor that you could be scary at times. You weren't like that all the time. You always helped me when you could. And you taught me to read. It was who you are. I could never hate you, Erza."

"But why?" Erza was so confused. She couldn't find any redeeming feature in herself that would cause Natsu to save her.

"I could never hate you, Erza," Natsu said softly, "because I love you."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: still don't own Fairy Tail**

"I could never hate you, Erza, because I love you."

Natsu's confession had been just as gentle and soft spoken as the rest of his words had been during their conversation, but Erza had no trouble hearing them. Years later she would still swear that her heart had stopped beating for a couple of seconds.

Erza couldn't believe her ears. Surely they had to be playing a trick on her. How could Natsu love her? He was always so happy and outgoing. He had a bubbly personality and exuded confidence and strength and hope. He never stopped smiling and was always picking a fight. But he also cared for his nakama with his whole being. He was never one to give up.

And Natsu never lied. So if he was telling her now the he loved her, then it must be true.

"Y-you l-lo-v-ve me?" she questioned, stuttering. Erza hated how weak her voice had sounded.

"Of course I do, you silly girl."

Erza felt her back straighten. Crying or not, whether he loved her or not, no one called her a silly girl. She was Erza "Titania" Scarlet, Queen of the Fairies. She was in no way a silly girl.

"How could I not love you? You're a perfect dragon's mate."

'Mate. Dragon's mate.' Those two words rattled in Erza's brain. Just what the hell did Natsu mean by mate?

"Mate?" she squeaked. Erza cursed herself mentally. She had meant to tear strips into him and beat exactly what he meant out of him, not sound like a mouse that had been trodden on.

"Mate: the one person perfect in every way. It's specific to each one of us, but each dragon, or dragon slayer, only has one perfect mate." He gave her an intense look that made her feel like he had gained the ability to read her soul. "And a dragon mates for life."

'Mates for life. Together forever.' She could certainly see why that would be appealing to someone like Natsu, who grew up alone until he was taken in by Igneel. And the dragon hadn't stuck around long.

Erza couldn't help but wonder if he was waiting for her to say something. Was there some sort of dragon mating ritual? Did she have to accept that she was his mate? Was she really the only woman out there for Natsu?

Sure, she cared for Natsu. She cared for every member of Fairy Tail. Even when they never failed to get on her nerves, most often in the most spectacular and troublesome ways, more often than not and could not help but cause destruction and chaos wherever they went.

But did she care for Natsu more than she did for anyone else. Or did she care for him in a different way?

Erza didn't know.

She trusted the dragon slayer, with her life if it came to that. Natsu was a brilliant fighter, and his persistence always made her feel like he would always being there to defend her back. He wasn't one to do things halfway, and he had never failed to pull her out of her famous moods with his ever present smile and happy attitude.

And he wasn't a complete knucklehead. He didn't always fool around. The pink haired male knew when to be serious. He could be level headed and collected. He had moments of charming and sweetness that he never seemed to realize.

The more she thought about it, the more Erza could see Natsu as a constant presence in her life. He was at the present, even though it was as her best friend slash rival and not her life partner.

But perhaps, one day, maybe even soon, he could be. It wouldn't hurt to give him a chance, and he clearly wanted her. He thought she was perfect for him.

Natsu was still talking about dragons and their habits when it came to their mates when she refocused on the conversation. "Dragons are wise, compassionate creatures. They have an indomitable spirit and strength, and they protect what is theirs until their dying breath."

Erza wondered what this had to do with him picking her as his mate. Did he intend to stalk her and protect her on every mission she took? She didn't think he would go that far. Not that he would have to stalk her, being on the same team and all.

"But why did you pick me, Natsu?"

The pink haired dragon slayer blinked at her as if he didn't understand the question.

"Why am I your mate? The perfect one for you. I'm impatient, always criticizing you, threaten you on an hourly basis, insecure without my armor, socially awkward, strict, and domineering, and demanding, and bossy, and . . ."

Natsu placed a hand over her mouth to stop her uncharacteristic rambling.

"You're perfect for me because you are intelligent, compassionate, courageous and so much more. You have a strong will like me, and you're not afraid to beat some sense into me when I'm wrong or being idiotically reckless. You're strong willed and proud. You inspire and command respect.

"But most importantly, you balance me out. You're calm, level headed, and a leader. I'm brash, reckless, and tend to act without thinking. You're mature and full of wisdom where I'm childish and, well, an idiot most of the time.

"You're just as powerful as I am, both physically and magically. And that's what I need. Someone who isn't afraid to tell me when I'm wrong. Someone that could look out for me and be my equal in every sense of the word.

"Not to mention you're beautiful. I love your red hair."

Erza couldn't only stare at him in silence. Did he really think that highly of her? Did he really believe her capable of being equal with a dragon slayer? Being a forbidden magic, it was one of the strongest types out there. Did he really believe she was on his level power wise? She conveniently forgot that it was her that was a S-class mage and not Natsu.

Her composure was falling apart. Natsu had found a weakness in her armor and had forced himself past the steal she wore to protect her heart. After Jellal's betrayal when she first escaped the island and her servitude to the wizards trying to resurrect Zeref, Erza had sworn to never let anyone else close to her. To never let anyone find a place in her heart like Jellal had, so they could never hurt her again when they turned on her.

But, somehow, Natsu had slipped past her guard, worming his way into her heart. And now, now that she had seen what life was like without him, Erza never wanted to let the pink haired mage go. She didn't want to feel that pain ever again.

"You don't have to say anything. I love you, Erza. And if you're not ready yet, I'll wait for you. There will never be anyone else for me."

It surprised Erza how well the fire dragon slayer knew her. Had he always been able to tell what she was thinking just by looking at her? Did she know him well enough to be able to say what was on his mind before he spoke?

Before the whole R-System fiasco she would have said yes. All Natsu had ever talked about was his next challenge, who he would lock fists with and fight next. Now looking at him, however, the red head knew she couldn't do that, and it surprised her with how disappointed she felt. Erza would have enjoyed having one person in the world that knew her better than she knew herself and that she knew as equally well.

That was when she mentally slapped herself. She could still have that person. If she just took a chance with Natsu, it was possible that Erza could have love that transcended the ones told in fairy tales and romance novels.

And that was all Natsu was asking for. Once chance to prove to her that she was the only one for him and that he would love her like no other was capable of. One chance to show her that he truly loved her. He was expecting her to love him back just because he had proclaimed that she was his perfect mate. He just wanted one chance to shower her with love and maybe earn her love in return.

She grasped both his hands in hers. "I'd like to give us a try."

The expression on Natsu's face was radiant, making Erza confident that she had made the right choice.

The tension that she hadn't realized was there faded, and both wizards relaxed into the dragon slayer's comfy broken in couch. Natsu fully explained everything that had happened since he took her place in the lacrima.

To say that Erza was astonished was an understatement. She had quite the extensive vocabulary, partly from teaching Natsu when he first joined the guild, and partly because she enjoyed insulting both him and Gray in ways that they couldn't understand. But all her words failed her now. Just the idea that he had seen her totally break down because she thought he was dead was mortifying. Her face was quickly changing color to the point where it was darker than her hair and Erza thought she would have to name the new color she sported.

But that hadn't been all he had seen.

"Igneel? Igneel spoke to you?"

Apparently he had also had a vision of his father, well the dragon he considered his father, and he could actually talk to him. Igneel had told Natsu that he was now the first dragon slayer that possessed the potential and capability to become the world's first true dragon slayer and unlock the true power of a dragon.

Igneel, following some ancient rules long ago set in stone, couldn't say much other than that Natsu had to discover the true power on his own.

Given what little information they had, Natsu and Erza reasoned that whatever this true power was, Natsu was the only one that could unlock because he was the only idiot on the planet that would eat Etherion. They would just have to wait and see what new powers came from his absorbing the Etherion.

After exhausting their brains on the many possibilities, they switched topics and started reminiscing. Erza shared more about her past and being used as slave labor to build that horrid tower. Natsu told her what it was like growing up with a dragon as a guardian. Erza explained as best she could, since she had spent the majority if not all of the time since he had died hole up in his house, what had happened in the last seven weeks. In return, Natsu described his adventure from waking up on the unknown island to his new spell that created wings out of fire to his journey home.

They talked well into the night. Erza fell asleep first, leaning her head on his shoulder and unconsciously snuggling into his side. Natsu smiled softly as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders pulling her closer, and threaded his left hand through her scarlet locks. He closed his eyes, inexplicably glad that he was home.


	7. Chapter 7

Erza had noticed some subtle changes in Natsu in the three months since he had returned from the dead, so to speak.

The first was during Fairy Tail's annual 24 Hour Endurance Road Race. Since the rules allowed for all magic, except for flying, Natsu had used his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist attack as rocket boosters. It was an unusual way to use that technique, and it definitely wasn't cut out for prolonged use. He made it halfway last year before he ran out of magic. This year, however, Natsu never stopped. He never ran out of magic. The dragon slayer had blasted off once Master Makarov shouted 'go', and had made it to the mountain and came back with a Wyvern Scale in just over three overs.

That wasn't the only case either. Natsu no longer found himself having to eat fire to replenish his magic on jobs simply because he now seemed to have an endless supply of magic. Erza had him test it with her once. She Re-Quipped into her Flame Empress armor and let Natsu attack her until he dropped from magical exhaustion. Only, it never happened. Erza had to call the experiment quits because she could only go three days without eating or drinking, and at that point the pinkette had shown no signs running out of magic anytime soon.

So, impossible as it seemed, Natsu's already ridiculously high magical stamina had increased to astronomical levels. Erza was starting to believe that there was no end to the amount of magic Natsu now had.

Logically, it was a great thing, a never ending source of power. But it still caused the red head to worry as to how it was possible and where the massive amount of magic was coming from. She also feared the Council would catch word of Natsu's new ability and take him away to be one of their soldiers, or worse, keep him under lock and key for observation.

There were other incidents as well. Once, on a mission to protect a merchant's, who specialized in magical items, cargo, they had encountered a bunch of dark guild members. Defeating them wasn't a problem, the twenty mages were no match for them, but one member had a sword that could slice through magical attacks. His sword had gone right through Fire Dragon's Wing Attack.

Erza nearly had a fit. She had not suffered for seven weeks believing Natsu to be dead, only for him to die because some lousy dark wizard had cut open his abdomen and spilled his guts on the ground. But the sword had bounced of Natsu's abdomen with an audible clang, jarring the wielder badly enough that Natsu was able to knock him out before he could retaliate.

But, apparently his skin was now as hard as dragon scales. If Erza looked really closely and squinted a little, she could actually see scales.

She and Natsu figured these new abilities were a part of the dragon's true power that Igneel told Natsu about. Erza definitely thought these new powers to be great advantages for Natsu. A power source that never emptied; he was guaranteed to win any battle if only because his magic would last longer leading him to overpower whoever he was up against. Dragon scales for skin; he certainly would never be injured again, something she was sure the dragon slayer was ecstatic about.

If this was only a little bit of the true power a dragon was supposed to wield, then Erza was nervous. Natsu was already unbeatable as far as she and Master Makarov could tell. What would he be when they discovered the rest of his potential?

'The most powerful mage to ever exist.'

And that was the thought that worried Erza most. If Natsu was the first dragon slayer in centuries to have the potential to unlock the true power of a dragon, that meant, once, there had been mages capable of it before him. But what possible reason could one have for needing so much power? And did Natsu's learning a dragon's true power foreshadow the coming of something so strong, so powerful, so evil, that only the immense power of a true dragon slayer could stop it?

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Erza's unspoken fears were recognized the next day. The Dark Wizard Guilds were on the moving, banding together for nefarious purposes. Just the idea of Dark Wizards forming alliances made a thrill of grip Erza. There was no situation in which Dark Wizards putting aside their pride, greed, and false sense of honor could be anything other than trouble with a capital 'T.'

She hoped that the Master's plans of an alliance between Fairy Tail, Caitshelter, Lamia Scale, and Blue Pegasus would work, but she couldn't help but worry. What if a handful of wizards from each guild wasn't enough to handle Oracion Seis?

"Oracion Seis only has six members. . ."

"Are you kidding me, old man? You need four guilds to take down six mages? Fairy Tail could handle this on our own. We don't need help from any other guild!"

Erza sighed. Natsu would think that. Although whether it was due to his new power burst, which strangely, he wasn't very aware of, he still believed it was completely normal for him, or because he was just being himself she didn't know.

The Master leveled the dragon slayer with a dark look for interrupting him and then continued his explanation as if Natsu had never spoken. "As I said, their guild only consists of six members, but each one of them is incredibly strong. That is the reason for four guilds banding together to defeat Oracion Seis."

Master Makarov went on to say that she, Natsu, Lucy, and Gray were expected at some villa that was part of Blue Pegasus where the four guilds would set up base. He gave them a stern warning to be very careful and not to engage in one on one battles until they knew their enemies strengths and weaknesses, and even then only as a last resort. Oracion Seis was a dangerous group of Wizards searching for something called Nirvana, and it was their job to stop them from finding it, whatever it was.

Natsu bounced out of the office. "Alright! I'm all fired up! I can't wait to beat these Dark Wizards! They don't stand a chance against Fairy Tail!"

Erza wore a small smile as she gazed fondly at Natsu's back as he and Gray fought. Even without trying to he managed to lift her spirits and fill her with hope and courage and strength. 'Yes,' she thought, deciding just this once to not break the two idiots apart, 'we will take care of Oracion Seis. Because we are Fairy Tail, and we never give up.'

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Erza let a groan. What on earth was Ichiya doing here? She respected the man as a wizard, barely sometimes, but he really managed to give her the creeps with every word he said.

She forced her mind to think of something other than him. Looking over the other members of the alliance, she felt confident that they would be able to handle Oracion Seis. The group comprised of two dragon slayer (admittedly of different skill sets, Wendy was a heal and support type and Natsu was currently something beyond a dragon slayer, although the young girl also came with her own talking flying cat making Erza wonder if having one was a requirement for all dragon slayers), two ice mages, a celestial wizard, that weird girl from Galuna island that deal with doll magic, three S-class mages, herself, Ichiya, and Juri, and he was one of the Ten Wizard Saints (which made her wondered if the Council's naming of Natsu as one was still valid since he wasn't dead), and the three boys from Blue Pegasus whose abilities she didn't know. But with so many different types of magic, Erza truly believed that they could keep Oracion Seis from finding Nirvana.

The current plan was basic since they knew next to nothing about the members of Oracion Seis. Blue Pegasus had an airship that was coming to give them aide, so until it arrived, the alliance would have to stay on the down low and avoid attracting Oracion Seis's attention, something that Natsu was extremely displeased about. He wanted to burn down the forest and force the Dark Guild out of hiding.

The pink headed dragon slayer got his wish about an hour later when they were ambushed by one of the members of Oracion Seis. They had split into smaller groups in order to search for Oracion Seis and their hideout. The second the decision to pair up had been made, Natsu had grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her into the forest.

Erza mentally cursed Natsu as he charged straight at the enemy. They were supposed to be trying to find Oracion Seis, not picking fights with them. With great effort she ignored the voice in the back of her head that said they had found Oracion Seis.

The enemy the duo had encountered was Cobra. What little information they had on him, which wasn't much, was about his pet venomous snake that he fought with. And it was a large purple snake that most likely could have wrapped around the Master in his giant form. He had dark red hair that reminded Erza of dried blood. He dressed simply in red pants, a black shirt, and white trench coat.

He looked at them through narrow slanted eyes that Natsu, of course, insulted.

Natsu charge, intent on burying a flaming fist into his face and giving the guy bruises to match his snake's scales. Erza Re-Quiped into her Heaven Wheel armor. Two dozen swords came into existence, all aiming at Cobra and his pet snake.

The Dark Wizard dodged Natsu's fists and her swords as if a child had thrown them. Lashing out with one long leg, he sent Natsu sprawling into the dirt. "I can hear your next move, Titania." He mocked her with a smirk.

Erza switched into her soaring armor thinking that he wouldn't be able to predict her attacks if she was moving faster than he could see. She attacked relentlessly, but every elbow jabbed, every kick launched, every sword aimed to remove his head from his shoulders was deflected. That annoying smirk never left his face.

"It's no use, Erza Scarlet. I can hear your movements. Your breathing. The contraction and expansion of your muscles. Your very thoughts even."

Was that how he blocked her attacks so effortlessly? He had read her thoughts and knew every move she was going to make. But that didn't make sense. Why would he mention hearing her movements, her muscles, if he could simply hear her thoughts?

Erza leapt back. How could she win against a wizard that could hear her thoughts and essentially defend before she could even attack?

"Cubelios!" The giant purple reptile that had not moved struck at Erza blindingly fast. A split second before its foot long poisonous fangs latched onto her arm Natsu rejoined the battle, taking the bite intended for her.

The snake retreated just as quickly as Natsu sank to his knees. She could only stare at Natsu with wonder. He had miraculously saved her again, and the fool got poisoned for his efforts. Erza knelt beside him and gripped a sword in one hand and his arm in the other, fully prepared to cut off his arm to keep the poison from spreading.

"Cubelios's poison doesn't take effect immediately." Was that supposed to comfort her somehow or make her sick with worry? "It lets you live for a while in pain." He was entirely too smug as he said that.

Erza pulled Natsu's arm closer to her so she could examine the wound only to find there wasn't any. She cursed herself for forgetting Natsu's new powers. The snake's fangs stood no chance against the scales of a dragon and had not pierced the dragon slayer's skin.

If possible, Cobra's eyes slanted more, as he stared enraged at his prey that was standing instead of trembling on the ground in pain. "I see. You are a dragon slayer. A fire one. Guess what little dragon. I'm the Posion Dragon Slayer."

'Poision Dragon Slayer?' Erza's thoughts echoed. She had never heard of a dragon that used poison magic.

"The old generation of dragon slayers should cease to exist."

'Old generation?' Just what was this guy talking about?

"I suppose I'm not a true dragon slayer. I had a dragon lacrima implanted in me. But my dragon magic is far superior to yours." It seemed that he was done gloating. Cobra sucked in a large breath and spewed out an, unsurprisingly, purple cloud of poison.

Natsu had picked her up bridal style and leapt upwards into the trees and out of reach of the spreading poison. He set her down on a branch and stupidly jumped into the purple cloud.

'Natsu, you idiot. Stop saving me and think about yourself for once.'

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu was sure that the poison affected him somehow, but as he furiously attempted to land a hit on the infuriating dark wizard, he wasn't sure how. He knew that his abilities had improved since his return from the Tower of Heaven ordeal, but even he didn't know to what extent so he had no clue how this poison was supposed to be impairing him.

"You don't stand a chance of winning against me, gramps." Gramps? That guy was way older than Natsu so who did he think he was calling gramps? "I can hear you."

'I can hear you.' Natsu repeated in his mind. He had said something like that earlier to Erza. Was this his normal magical ability? Listening Magic? Could he really hear his thoughts and movements like he claimed?

Natsu smirked, showing off pointing teeth. 'Well, there's only one way to find out.' The true dragon slayer released a high pitch dragon roar that shook the trees around him. A thud to his right revealed Cobra, who had crumpled to the ground with his hands over his ears and fallen unconscious.

The poison dispersed and Natsu cheered at his victory. His elation only lasted until Erza jumped down and slapped him in the back of the head for endangering himself needlessly. He flashed a grin and told her not to worry, and then fell unconscious himself. Apparently that poisoned breath did affect him after all.

Erza pulled one arm over her shoulder and began to trek back to the villa that the alliance was using as their base. Wendy had stayed behind, with Jura to protect her, and she would be able to heal Natsu.

She smiled to herself as she carried his dead weight. Natsu had protected her once again and had beaten the guy out to get her, even if they didn't know why he had been targeting her. But he had saved her again.

Erza wondered if Natsu would ever not be there to save her when she needed him.

No. Natsu would always be there for her.


	8. Chapter 8

"Wendy's been taken?"

Erza could feel her heart sinking into her stomach. Wendy had been kidnapped by a member of Oracion Seis with the ability to mimic other mages and their powers. She slumped on the ground next to the couch she had laid Natsu on. She had been depending on Wendy to heal Natsu.

'No. I won't clutch at his hand and cry like a little girl. I am Erza "Titania" Scarlet. I'll rescue Wendy and return her to base so she can heal Natsu.' Determination and strength flooded her veins. 'Just stay here and rest, Natsu. This time, it truly is my turn to save you.'

Erza marched out of the villa, looking for the one in the trio of Blue Pegasus boys that used Archive Magic. Anything they had learned he would know so, hopefully, he would have knowledge on the whereabouts of Oracion Seis and where they had taken Wendy. She wondered why such a strong Dark Wizard guild had taken a girl like Wendy captive. Just by looking at her you could tell she was still a child, unable to fight for her life. And they certainly couldn't have use of her skill set.

Or did they? Did Oracion Seis know that Wendy Marvel was the Sky Dragon Slayer? That she was capable of healing magic? But if they did know, who did they need her to heal?

Erza was more determined to find Wendy. Not only did she need the girl for Natsu's sake, but whatever Oracion Seis planned to use her for spelled bad news.

Hibiki wasn't as helpful as she thought he'd be. The only thing he could tell her was that Oracion Seis had made their base in a ruined city. A ruined city that was swallowed by the Woodsea Forest and he had no clue where it was located.

It frustrated her that he couldn't provide exact coordinates. Natsu's life was in danger and she would be wasting precious time scouring the forest just to find them. She whirled to face the forest and came face to face with Gray and Lucy.

"We're coming with you, Erza. We want to save Wendy and Natsu too."

"Flame brain's not getting out of our match this easily."

Of course both Gray and Lucy would come with her. They also cared for Natsu, although if he and Gray were still fighting she would have to do something to correct that. But Erza was quite glad they would both be accompanying her. It would be just like another job for Team Natsu, if she ignored that Natsu wasn't joining them and the whole point of this job was to save him. It warmed her heart to know that she had such great friends, friends that were willing to risk their lives for her and help her when she needed them to. She had been so wary and tentative of forging new bonds and making new friends with the other members of Fairy Tail after Jellal's betrayal. But having friends was truly the greatest thing in the world.

"Right, let's get started. We won't find Wendy and Oracion Seis's base by standing around." Erza ordered Gray and Lucy to get moving and strode into the forest first using the time the two scrambled after her to wipe away the few tears that had gathered in the corner of her eyes.

Finding the ruined city turned evil doer's secret hideout was harder than Erza had anticipated. Not that she thought it would be terrible easy. But she definitely thought they would have found something after two hours wandering, more like storming really, the forest. The lack of success was a constant concern for her. She didn't want to imagine what purpose Oracion Seis would have for such a sweet and gentle young girl like Wendy, and every minute they searched without results sent a stab of panic to her heart. What if Oracion Seis's plans to find Nirvana succeeded? What if they were too late to rescue Wendy? What if Wendy wasn't truly capable of healing Natsu?

Erza did her best to push those thoughts aside and not think them, but they floated across her mind untethered, coming and going and increasing in tone of despair and depravity the longer they searched through the Woodsea. To keep her mind off her, in her mind anyway, apocalyptic thoughts, the scarlet haired mage focused on praying for Natsu to hold on until they returned and that she, Lucy and Gray found something soon.

No sooner had she thought about something interesting happening when a group of wizards bearing a strong resemblance to monkeys surrounded them. Erza wasn't worried about the lackeys. They were low leveled, undistinguished, untrained, groupies that had no skill other than brute force and pathetic intimidation by trying to look like gorillas. She wasn't even worried about Erigor, who had appeared crouched on a tree branch shrouded in a slightly tattered cloak and wielding a giant scythe laid over one shoulder. Natsu had beaten him once before so she was confident the three of them could handle him.

What worried Erza was the distraction this battle caused. While half of her was overjoyed to finally see some action, which had to be a response from Oracion Seis, because it meant they were getting closer to their goal of finding and rescuing Wendy, she absolutely did not want to waste any time dealing with a single one of the weak and untalented wizards in front of her, even if she could take them out with one Re-Quip. They were so close to saving Natsu; she did not want to be stalled for even a second.

Gray seemed to have developed a new ability to read her mind. "We'll take care of the goon squad. You go find Wendy. We have to be close."

Erza gave him a grateful look and Re-Quipped into her Flight Armor and sped off, greatly outdistancing any that tried to follow her. She trusted that Gray's and Lucy's abilities would be enough to defeat the battalion of hulking brutes and Erigor. She almost turned around when there was a shout behind her, but Gray created a giant ice wall that prevented Erigor, who had tried to give chase, from engaging her in a battle that would only waste their time. She gave her teammates a smile that said she would let them take care of this situation and dashed through the foliage.

It wasn't long before she came to a cliff. Normally that would have signaled she made a wrong turn and had hit a dead end, but, at the bottom of the cliff, was the ancient ruined city Team Natsu had been searching for. She switched her Flight Armor, which she mused as she faced the cliff, was misnamed because it did not grant her the ability to fly, for her Black Wing Armor that was composed of a black bikini covered by black plating with a silver trim and some decorative silver crosses. The most important part of this armor was the wings attached to her back which would allow her to fly down to the crumbling city.

She entered the largest intact building cautiously. Up to this point, they had seen neither head nor tails of any member belonging to Oracion Seis, and despite being an S-Class mage and one of the strongest in Fairy Tail, she was no match for five extremely powerful wizards from a dark guild, and she knew that. Her best chance of saving both Wendy and Natsu was to sneak in unnoticed and get out the same way.

However, Erza was met with no resistance. Suspicion curled in her stomach. While not encounter all five Dark Wizards, not seeing at least one guarding the girl they had captured made her uncertain. It should not be as easy as strolling into their base unannounced and walking out again unscathed. There should have been at least one member of Oracion Seis present.

But there was no one to be seen. Erza made her way through the abandon city unfettered. It wasn't too hard to find the room where Wendy had been held captive. All she had to do was follow the sobs. It wasn't likely that anyone in Oracion Seis cried like a little girl, which was fine because that was what Wendy was and it was acceptable when she cried. Erza would have thrown down her sword and returned to Magnolia if her enemy cried like Wendy was prone to.

She was hit by a blue haired missile as soon as she cleared the doorway. Erza consoled the girl, who was trembling in her arms as tears literally fell down her face like a river. Wendy was attempting to tell her something, but it was hard to understand when every second word was pierced with a wail. What little she did decipher, seeing the boy who had saved her and brought her to Caitshelter and finding out he was dead, she couldn't understand the importance.

"And then Brain made me revive Jellal. But they were calling him by Zeref."

Erza's body froze. Her mind replayed the first sentence like a broken record. 'revived Jellal.' She felt as if she had been petrified. Her first love, the boy that had betrayed her and utterly smashed her heart into miniscule pieces, the man that Natsu had killed to save her, the reason that Natsu had risked his life and was believed dead for seven weeks, was alive. If she could have focused on something other than her childhood friend turned worst nightmare, she would have realized that Wendy was still talking about Oracion Seis's plans, which involved using Jellal to find Nirvana so they could revive the Dark Wizard Zeref in his body.

But she couldn't. Erza didn't hear any word spoken by the young girl after she mentioned Jellal. All at once the barriers she had rebuilt around her heart upon Natsu's supposed death shattered. She was seized by a torrent of emotions, not the least of which was terror, fear, worry, doubt, and unease. She and Natsu had barely beat Jellal the first time. Her anxiety, a feeling she wasn't accustomed to, climbed as she tried to think about how to tell the rest of the Alliance, especially Natsu, that Jellal was still among the living. Or back amongst them anyway.

Erza brutally ignored the small part of her brain that whispered that she now had a third chance to change Jellal for the better.

After all, third time's the charm, right?


	9. Chapter 9

Natsu's head was reeling and it felt like a hand was simultaneously crushing his heart and squeezing his lungs leaving him incapable of breathing normally.

The man responsible for Erza's torment was still alive.

So not only was Jellal able to hurt Erza still, but according to Brain, the leader of Oracion Seis, Jellal knew the location of Nirvana and was going to lead them to it. His appearance had completely thrown a wrench in their plans to find whatever the hell Nirvana was before the bad guys did.

The dragon slayer sneaked a sideways look at Erza who was standing a bit apart from the wizards surrounding Wendy as she told her story. Even when she was wearing her usual armor he could tell that her body was tense. She was standing stiff, her back as straight as it could go, shoulders squared, and the muscles in her arms and legs twitched with the need to pummel something.

Natsu like to think that that something was Jellal's face, but knew there was a real possibility that the red head wanted to attempt to rescue her once childhood friend like she tried at the Tower of Heaven. If he hadn't known it wouldn't do him any good to point out the dozens of reasons why he thought it was a bad idea he would have. But the pink haired male just couldn't bring himself to hurt Erza in anyway, and he knew that that was exactly what he would be doing if he made a move to change her mind and make her feel guilty for the boy she still cared about.

But knowing that it would hurt his mate didn't make it any easier for him to not tear the forest apart until he found the blue haired bastard so he could kill him for real this time.

Natsu had a hard time trying to focus on their new strategy as he tried to control his anger. He hardly heard the explanation that involved splitting into groups of two again and trying to find Nirvana before Oracion Seis could. He did vaguely catch mention of the defeat of three more members. Although it did explain the more battered appearances that some of the group was sporting.

Not that he needed to hear everything to understand what was going on. And he thought it even pointless to try. It was clear that Oracion Seis was going to win this race. The alliance was going to be choking on the cloud of dust left in their wake. There was just no way they could get there first.

Not when that bastard was going to lead them straight to it.

Natsu had no chance to point out the futileness of their plan. A pillar of black light rockets above the trees and he knows that Jellal has already led the last two members of Oracion Seis to Nirvana.

Before anyone can react, fiery wings burst into existence on Natsu's back and the pink haired dragon slayer had shot off in the direction of the column of light. He knew that that was wear he would find Jellal. He was going to get there first and put a stop to him once and for all before Erza could meet him again. He wasn't going to let that bastard anywhere near his mate.

The light disappeared, replaced with a monstrous sized structure that resembled a city with spider like legs. One stone leg lifted, moved, and thundered back to the ground and the city on legs started moving. And it was moving really fast for a giant stone city.

Natsu was grateful that he could fly faster than the city, which he guessed was the Nirvana that Oracion Seis was looking for although he didn't know what any dark wizard guild would want with an ancient crumbling city that could move. Unless they wanted a base that could relocate, but that thing would be pretty hard to hide.

The dragon slayer landed in a crouch on one of the many towers that dotted the city's landscape. For all the posturing Oracion Seis had displayed and the dire warnings given by the Master, this is not what he had expected Nirvana to be. Natsu had imagined Nirvana as a powerful weapon, sealed away because it was too dangerous, capable of wiping cities off the map.

He did not expect some city-spider hybrid.

But all that was beside the point. He needed to find the leader of Oracion Seis. Brain? Was that his name? To be honest, Natsu didn't care, but clearly he had to be the one controlling this moving city and where it was going. And he instinctively knew that wherever Nirvana was headed, it was for Brain's nefarious purposes.

He tilted his head back and stuck his nose in the air. With a little bit of magic and enhanced senses, Natsu would be able to sniff out the general location of the man commanding the moving fortress. It was another new thing he had noticed he had gained since the Tower of Heaven fiasco. Apparently, being a true dragon slayer meant being able to know a person's identity by the scent of their magic alone. And that was rather easy. Every wizard's magic had its own distinct and unique scent, and even if Natsu couldn't remember the name of the person the scent belonged to, he never forgot the magic's scent itself and would recognize it if he ever stumbled across it again.

While he had never scented Brain's magic before, there were only three other wizards on the city besides himself, so one of the three unknown scents he would pick up would have to be him. Then all he would have to do is go investigate each scent and take out Brain and then he could focus his attention on finally getting rid of Jellal.

Natsu studied the two unknown scents, there was just no way he could have forgotten the one that belonged to that blue haired bastard, trying to reason which of the two was most likely Brain's. He didn't want to waste any time with Midnight. He knew next to nothing about him aside from second hand reports about how he could deflect all attacks while sleeping. He wanted to find Brain, beat him into next week, and then hunt down Jellal and hurt him ten times as bad as he hurt Erza.

Finally deciding to follow the scent that made him scrunch his nose more (in the belief that the scent that smelled the worst belonged to the leader of Oracion Seis because only the strongest evil wizard would have such a foul scent), he was completely caught off guard when a voice sounded in his head, even if it was vaguely familiar as one of those weird guys from Blue Pegasus. Natsu barely managed to keep himself from falling off the roof of the tower he was perched on.

"Everyone, we believe that Nirvana is heading for Caitshelter. Although we don't know why, it is the only thing in the path so it must be Oracion Seis's target. In order to stop Nirvana we need to destroy the six lacrima crystals that power it. There's one located in the base of each of the legs."

"Not a problem. Give me ten minutes and this thing will come to a screeching halt." Natsu promised.

"Unfortunately for you Natsu," Hibiki continued, "all six lacrima have to be destroyed at the same time. So you need to pick a lacrima to destroy and wait for the first five of us to catch up so that we can stop Nirvana before it reaches Caitshelter."

"Fine then, I'll take the first one."

Other voices chimed in staking claim on the different lacrima.

"I've got two." Said Gray.

"Three." Lucy.

"I shall handle number four with the power of my parfum." Why on earth was Ichiya among the five members closest to Nirvana?

"I guess I should take five. But I don't think I could destroy it. I don't have any offensive spells." Wendy apologized.

"Don't think like that Wendy. You are a dragon slayer. Of course you can destroy some stupid lacrima that powers a walking city out to wipe your guild off the map." The Alliance's other resident dragon slayer assured the younger one. "You have the power to do so; you just need the confidence and the courage."

"I'll take the sixth."

Natsu's heart skipped a beat. While logically he knew that Erza would have been the first one to race after him, he had held onto the hope that she wouldn't come and chance running into Jellal. How on earth was he supposed to keep her from running into him in a city so large where he had only the vaguest directions of where the guy was? How was he supposed to keep him from Erza if he had to take out Brain and a lacrima in order to stop Nirvana.

"Alright then, Natsu heads toward the first lacrima and wait for my signal which will be given when all six of you are in place. And Natsu, try to keep a low profile. It will be easier to deal with the last remaining members of Oracion Seis if Nirvana is out of commission."

Hibiki temporarily shut down communication so he could fully monitor the six wizards assigned to take out the lacrima.

The pinkette, however, was not in any mood to sit around and wait. The whole point of getting here first was to take care of this stupid city that should know it was a city and should therefore be incapable of walking and deal with Jellal before Erza could happen across his path. With the knowledge that he couldn't take down the wandering building on his own, he set out in search of Brain. There was no way that that man wouldn't try to stop them from interfering. If Natsu could take him out, there would only be Midnight left to stop them. And while his ability to deflect attacks would make it very hard to fight him, it wasn't something he was worried about considering the guy was sleeping and not attacking them.

So he stuck to his original plan to find Brain and began to follow the scent he believed belonged to the leader of Oracion Seis.

He was quite surprised to find his target in one of the chambers that housed the lacrima, even more so the lacrima he was supposed to destroy. Brain stood below him with his back to him, standing like a soldier with hands clasped behind his back.

'Heh, I'll be killing two birds with one stone.'

"I've been expecting you."

Natsu blinked. He certainly hadn't been expecting that. "Why?"

"The first true dragon slayer since the first one." Brain said casually, not actually talking to the pink haired dragon slayer. "Are you aware of the power you possess?"

Natsu was about to tell him that of course he knew, it was his powers, when Brain continued.

"So much power, capable of killing a dragon." The pinkette gulped nervously. He would never kill a dragon. Not after Igneel had taken him in and raised him like a son. He could never bring himself to harm a dragon. Not that he could anyway since no one knew where the dragons went seven years ago.

"I would never kill a dragon!" He roared.

Brain turned and gave him an evil smile. "But you will, little dragon slayer. Do you know the true power of Nirvana?"

Natsu blinked at the unexpected change in topic. Brain continued.

"Nirvana is legendary magic. It has the power to reverse light and darkness. It was created thousands of years ago by the Nirvit to keep peace amongst humans. But those stupid people didn't understand how to truly use Nirvana. When the city began to take on the darkness from humans it affected the people living there, and the city fell into chaos. All the negative energy fueled Nirvana."

Natsu was beginning to feel a little anxious. He didn't come for a history lesson. He was going to beat the living daylights out of this guy and stop Nirvana.

"And I'm going to use the power of Nirvana on you, little dragon slayer."

Natsu's eyes widened. Use it on him!

"I will use Nirvana to switch your light to darkness. Then you will fight for me. You will destroy the Caitshelter guild where the fools who could stop Nirvana hid. After that you will find Acnologia and kill him."

The pinkette felt horror at the mention of Acnologia. Igneel had taught him about the Black Dragon. He was a monstrous dragon, the largest of them all, the reason why his was called the King of Dragons. Acnologia is infamous and feared by all other dragons and dragon slayers. He single-handedly wiped out an entire country. He was the only dragon that never passed down his magic to a wizard. Acnologia slaughtered humans like they were insects and wasn't against treating his own brethren in the same manner.

But Acnologia had disappeared, his whereabouts were unknown. And this pyscho wanted Natsu to somehow hunt down the most feared beast in existence and challenge him.

Natsu fought to think through the fear and dread that threatened to overpower him. He had time before Brain tried to brainwash him into joining him and his self-destructive take over the world plot. If he was capable of turning him dark with Nirvana, he would have done so immediately instead of detailing his plans for world domination. That meant that Nirvana wasn't able to do so now. So all Natsu had to do was defeat Brain and destroy Nirvana.

'Well, it looks like the plan hasn't changed at all.' Natsu thought, a feral grin forming. His original plan to beat Brain, find Jellal and take care of him and be back in time to deal with Nirvana was still in operation. Only now he had a personal reason for fighting the leader of Oracion Seis.

Because no one was going to make him kill a dragon. Even if it was the most feared dragon in the world that terrorized dragons and humans alike. Natsu would not be forced to do anything against his will.

And Brain was going to learn that the hard way. The painful way.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Quick apology for the wait. Three things really quickly. 1, college started so time to write is few and far between but I won't stop. 2, I struggled with this chapter because I'm not confident in my ability to write fight scenes, so review and tell me if I passed or if it completely sucked. And 3, to make up for the wait, this chapter is longer. Enjoy!**

"Alright, Brain. I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted as he punched his right fist into his left palm. With a roar of "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" the spikey pink haired dragon slayer launched himself at the Guildmaster of Oracion Seis, aiming a fiery fist at Brain's face.

"You have no chance against me maggot. Accept your inevitable defeat and feel the ultimate power of Nirvana." The white haired male said as he easily slipped by the incoming fist and retaliated with his own attack.

"Dark Capriccio!" a beam of green and orange energy spiraled out of the skull tipped staff he gripped and slammed into Natsu, knocking the younger male clear off his feet and throwing him a few feet backwards. "I am the master of Darkness Magic. It is one of the Lost Magics. You can't hope to beat me."

Natsu's eye twitched. The man bragged more than Laxus, something that he had not believed possible because the lightning magic user's arrogance was unparalleled. Brain's grandstanding speeches did nothing more than inflate his already oversized self-inflated ego.

Black eyes narrowed as he used fire blasted from the soles of his feet to propel himself forward. This battle was going to be harder than he had anticipated, and he could not blindly charge in screaming his every attack like he usually did. This time Natsu would have to plan his attacks. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu took hold of Brain, arms and hands igniting, and through the dark wizard across the circular room.

His opponent crashed into the ceiling, raining down dust and rubble on the dragon slayer. Natsu coughed to expel the dust he inhaled and was blindsided by a stream of dark magic that slammed him into the wall. The pink haired mage groaned as he pushed himself up on one knee to find another Dark Capriccio streaming towards him. The attack was easily dodged, but Natsu was at a distinct disadvantage. Somehow, this Brain guy was capable of flying.

'Well, time to even up the playing field.' Natsu smirked as flames roared into life, swirling around him creating a wind that rustled his clothes and formed a pair of fiery wings attached to his shoulder blades. One flap from his fire wings launched him into the air.

He paused his ascent in front of a disbelieving Brain. "You're not the only one that can fly, you bastard!" Fire flared around both his fists. Natsu brought them together, creating the ultimate fireball, "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

The resounding explosion from his attack had sent both men slamming into opposite walls. A few beats of his wings cleared the dust and smoke to reveal a sight Natsu never wanted to see.

Standing off to his left and below him in the entrance to the room was the last man the pink haired dragon slayer ever wanted to see and the one he so desperately wanted to destroy. Jellal stood, a confused look on his face, a weird red tattoo, and black eyes sweeping the room, dressed in a dark shirt, a gold trimmed blue jacket, dark pants, and laced boots. His dark eyes stopped on Natsu.

A smile broke out on his face.

A fucking smile. Natsu could not believe that bastard had the nerve to smile at him like they were best friends after what he had done to Erza. The blue haired man had tried to kill them. There was no way he could waltz right into _his _battle and do whatever the hell it was he planned on doing.

And then he spoke. "Natsu Dragneel. I remember you."

Blood raced through Natsu's veins. His blood felt like it was boiling. His heart pounded harder and faster. His black eyes were riveted on the man who once dared called himself Erza's friend, on the man that said his name. Rage burned inside him, growing more chaotic as the two wizards stared each other down.

Natsu forgot all about Nirvana's affect as he glared at Jellal. "I could never forget the man that made Erza cry. I'll make you pay for that. You'll suffer ten times the pain she felt when I'm through with you. And you'll like it." All this was growled with a dark smile on Natsu's face.

His rage, anger, hate, and desire for revenge overpowered him, and the pink haired dragon slayer launched into a flurry of punches and kicks that were naturally stronger than normal due to him being a dragon slayer and further enhanced by channeling pure magic to his fists and feet.

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art," Natsu's voice was guttural and animalistic, "Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" Lighting his hands on fire, Natsu rapidly punched his opponent. Each punch caused a fiery explosion.

Jellal feebly defended himself by crossing his arms in front of his face as Natsu rained down fiery fist after fiery fist. He made no move to counter attack until the fire magic user paused in his relentless attack.

Natsu had been so sure that he had defeated Jellal with one of his more powerful attacks that he was very surprised to see the man still standing when he stopped. He was unscathed, bruises, burns, and scratches littered his body, although Natsu had no clue where the scratches came from. It wasn't like he had long nails.

A quick glance at his fingers showed that his nails had elongated, hardened and sharpened to a point. His hand had become a claw and his fingers transformed into talons.

The shock of his new transformation ability was enough to break Nirvana's grip on Natsu, and he stared amazed at what used to be human hands. His skin was now covered with dark red overlapping scales. Sharp curved talons extended from the end of his, was it called toes now?

"Natsu." A deep voice broke the pinkette from his admiration of his new hand. "I'm sorry for whatever it is I did to you. I can't remember much, very little actually, but I remember you and Erza Scarlet. I could never forget that red hair. I know I hurt you both. I want to make up for it. I want to pay for my mistakes, right the wrongs I made."

Natsu glared at the blue haired man sprawled on the ground. Jellal had just apologized, something that normally would solve everything as far as he was concerned, but he couldn't forgive him. Jellal was supposed to be Erza's closest friend when they were enslaved and forced to construct that damned Tower of Heaven. He shared her suffering and pain. Her hopes and dreams.

And he had betrayed her. He threatened her friends, both old and new. He kidnapped her. He tried to sacrifice her to revive Zeref. He had pretended to return to the boy he had been to trick Erza into his trap. He had tried to kill Erza. He had made Natsu's mate cry.

Natsu always believed that everyone deserved a second chance, but he found it almost impossible to accept the apology of an amnesic man and grant him one. How could he know that this wasn't another one of the dark wizard's ploys?

"How cute."

Natsu whirled to face Brain, who apparently wasn't as downed as he had thought. The man stood tall, skin paler, hair less straight, and with blood red eyes. He wore an evil and dangerous smirk. "Isn't this just sweet? Two enemies reunited. And the mighty Jellal that had once been the vessel for the all-powerful Zeref is groveling at his enemy's feet for forgiveness."

The pinkette warily took a step backward, away from Brain who appeared to have multiple personality disorder and towards the one man he despised most. His new magic sensing ability was screaming at him, practically shrieking, from the amount of power this alternate version of Brain possessed. It made his skin prickle. Right now, an apologetic Jellal that he didn't trust was the lesser of two evils.

"I'm going to wipe the floor with both you maggots, right back into the garbage where you second rate wizards belong." Brain sneered. "Dark Gravity!"

Natsu's lungs burned as his breathe was knocked out of him. Brain's attack had sent him crashing to the floor.

'Correction,' he thought as the floor cracked and he fell, 'it's sent me plummeting through three floors.' The dragon slayer didn't have the breath to groan when he slammed into the last floor. It took all his effort to get his feet under him.

"Dark Delete!" came the cry from above. Now not only was rubble still falling around him and his vision clouded by dust and his breath stolen from him from both the impact and the dust and smoke, but now Brain was raining spheres of his dark magic.

"Dragon's Fire Shield!" Natsu's fire burst into existence above his head, forming a circular shield of flames that protected him. Without second thought he released his flaming wings and soared back up through the holes he had been knocked down and slammed a fiery elbow into Brain's gut.

"You little maggot!" Brain roared. "Do you really think you can defeat me, Zero, the master of Darkness?"

'Just great. Now he's naming his second self.' Natsu watched as Zero, as he now called himself, charged green darkness energy on his fingers and summoned thousands of black phantoms. With a shout of "Genesis Zero!" the dark phantoms swooped in and swarmed around the pink haired dragon slayer, completely engulfing him.

Blackness surrounded Natsu as the phantoms pressed in on him, long gangly arms swiping at him leaving behind red welts wherever they touched. But that wasn't all. With every touch Natsu felt his magic power diminishing and something else. It almost felt like he was losing a part of himself.

Natsu roared. It wasn't a roar of unbearable pain, but more like that of an enraged dragon. And that's what Natsu was. Ever since the Tower of Heaven incident when he stupidly ate the Etherion, the pinkette had been equal parts dragon and human. He had the form of a human, but now he possessed the lungs and heart of a dragon as well as their extremely durable and almost magic resistant scales as skin. But he was going to need to be more than that if he was going to beat Zero and his horde of ghouls.

A pillar of pure flames surrounded Natsu, blasting the ghouls back and turning hundreds of them to ashes. The fire roared in his ears and through his veins. "DRAGON TRANSFORMATION!"

Zero's red eyes widened at the incredible sight he was witnessing. "But how? No dragon slayer is capable of becoming a true dragon. Just what are you?" he shouted, fear making his voice quiver as the flames died down to reveal an actual dragon twenty feet long from snout to tail.

"I am a true dragon slayer. And it's with the power of a dragon that I'm going to destroy you. Secret Dragon Slayer's Art: Burning Scarlet Rage!" A torrent of flames spewed out of Natsu's mouth, stronger, larger, hotter, and more powerful than ever. It tore through the ghouls leaving ashes in its wake and slammed into Zero, who released a terrible scream as it made contact.

Natsu kept up the attack for a good five minutes before stopping. He released his dragon transformation and sank to his knees. One look at Brain/Zero was enough to tell the dragon slayer that he had won. Not that he needed to look. There was no power on Earth that could stand against the fury of a true dragon. All that was left of the leader of Oracion Seis was a blackened charred corpse.

And the thought of it made Natsu dry heave. In all the battles he had fought, every enemy he had faced off against, the pinkette had never, not even once, killed his opponent. Well, except for when he thought he had killed Jellal when he blew up the Tower of Heaven. But even though he didn't actually kill him, in that case it would have been by way of making the tower explode and not at his own hands. This time, it was Natsu himself that had killed.

Natsu wasn't sure how he was supposed to be feeling. He had never been one for killing his opponent, in fact he made sure not to each time he fought. But this time he didn't have any choice. With every second Nirvana was getting closer to its goal, and the only way for him to get at the lacrima powering its leg was to go through Brain, literally.

His self-degrading thoughts were interrupted by Hibiki. "Alright you guys. All six of you are in position. On my count take out the crystals.

"One, two, three, NOW!"

Natsu took a deep breath and stood unsteadily on wobbly legs. "Roar of the Fire Dragon!" A stream of fire crashed into the lacrima, shattering it. The dragon slayer was thrown off his feet by the sudden stop of the once moving city of ruins. There was an "oomph" and a groan as he slammed into the blue haired mage that was still lying on the floor.

Black eyes looked over the man beneath him. He wanted nothing to do with Jellal. But his sense of honor demanded that Natsu bring the man back to the ground. While it was the blue haired man's appearance that had caused him to lose control, Jellal had also allowed him learn a new ability. An ability that lead to Natsu defeating Brain/Zero.

Natsu gave a heavy sigh as he bent down to take one of the taller male's arms over his shoulders. He was sure nothing good would come of this, and the last thing that he wanted to do was increase Erza's chances of encountering her one time childhood friend, but he couldn't leave Jellal behind. Natsu was normally all for giving second and sometimes even third chances, but he wasn't sure if he could give one to Jellal for this was the man who tried to sacrifice Erza to resurrect the darkest wizard in the world. But if he had truly lost all his memories, Jellal deserved a second chance.

So Natsu carried the larger man's dead weight to the forest floor where the pair, Natsu really because Jellal was unconscious, with stares from the rest of the alliance members in varying degrees of disbelief and confusion.

But Natsu didn't even have the chance to explain what had happened before Lahar, Captain of the Fourth Custody Enforcement Unit made his own shocking appearance and announced the Magic Council's orders for Jellal's arrest.

Every person in the clearing froze, glance between Jellal who still hung draped over Natsu, Erza who looked as if she had been paralyzed, although Natsu didn't know if it was because the appearance of Jellal or Lahar, and Lahar. Natsu's black eyes glared at Lahar, who calmly returned his gaze.

It was one of the reasons why Natsu didn't like Lahar. The guy was strict, firm and unbending. Too much so. He took his job seriously, to the extreme. He didn't give you an inch. If the Magic Council ordered it, then Lahar was the tool sent out to see that their orders were carried through to the letter. And Lahar followed his orders to the last period.

Now Natsu found himself conflicted. Technically, Jellal was a criminal and the Magic Council had every right to arrest him. But Jellal remember none of the crimes he committed and Natsu thought it unfair to let the man stand trial and suffer for deeds he didn't remember.

On the other hand, the Magic Council's arrest orders solved his problem of how to deal with Erza and Jellal. If Jellal was sent to prison, he would have no need to worry about him harming his mate ever again.

But he had to factor in Erza's feelings. Just by looking at her Natsu could see she was crying. And those tears killed Natsu on the inside. The bastard wasn't even awake and he was making Erza cry for him. Those tears also feared Natsu with uncertainty. Erza was crying because she was about to lose Jellal for the third time. Did those tears mean that she couldn't leave without Jellal? That she needed him in her life. Did it mean that she was choosing Jellal over him? Did she not care that they were perfect for each other?

Natsu was unsure what to do. Half of him wanted to throw Jellal at Lahar so the black haired man could take him off his hands and take the decision out of his hands too. But the other half wanted to stop his mate's tears, and the only way Erza would stop crying was if Jellal remained out of the Council's hands.

So the pinkette was torn in two. He knew he'd have to make a decision soon because Lahar was starting to look impatient, but he just didn't know what choice to make. And he needed to make the right one.

This bastard had committed so many crimes and caused so much damage. Natsu could forgive Jellal trying to kill him. He could even forgive him trying to kill Erza if she could overlook it. But this bastard had made her cry not once, but twice. And he couldn't forget nor forgive him for that.

But Natsu would do anything to keep Erza from crying. Even if it meant defending Jellal from the Magic Council and saving the source of her tears. Even if he was going to keep Jellal out of prison, Natsu wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon that this was the second time he had been the cause of Erza's tears.

So, although it felt like his heart might shrivel and stop beating, Natsu defended Jellal and his stained character from Lahar and his magical army. His heart was breaking into miniscule pieces, but having Jellal at her side would make Erza happy. And once she was happy he would leave Fairy Tail. He didn't have the strength to stay. He couldn't stand the pain of seeing the two happy together in the guild and knowing that it was because of his choice. Knowing that it could have been and should have been him at Erza's side.

He handed Jellal over to Wendy, the only other person that seemed to know Jellal personally and wanted anything to do with him, and then transformed into his dragon form. Natsu ignored the gasps of shock from his friends and the screams of fear from the magical army. One sweep of his tail sent Lahar and his goons flying through the forest and crashing through trees.

He returned to his human state, shouldered Jellal, and boarded the magical bomber belonging to Blue Pegasus that would bring them back home with a curt "Let's go," to his teammates, all of who scrambled to follow the only wizard to ever transform into a dragon.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

"Are you sure this is what you want, Natsu?" Makarov Dreyar asked, black eyes piercing straight into Natsu's own dark orbs despite the Third Master's lacking height.

Natsu nodded, unable to speak for fear that his voice would waver and give away his true desires.

The old man gave a heavy sigh. "Very well. If this is what you truly want I won't stop you." Makarov stood up and crossed around his desk to stand in front of the boy he considered a second grandson. "But first, there are three rules you must follow:

"One, you must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others for as long as you live. Two, you must never use former contacts met through your being in the guild for personal gain. Three, though our paths may have diverged, you must continue to live out your life with all your might, you must never consider your own life to be something insignificant, and you must never forget about your friends for as long as you live." He clapped Natsu on the shoulder and drew the boy into a hug.

Makarov took a step back. "And remember, Natsu, you are always welcomed here."

Natsu gave the guild master a small sad smile and silently exited the old man's office.

'Goodbye, Natsu.' Makarov thought, watching as the pink haired figure from his window grow smaller, uncaring of the tears that splashed on the floor. Fairy Tail had once again lost one of its most important members, its centerpiece, and this time there was a chance that he wouldn't return.

Makarov continued watching long after Natsu had disappeared from sight, wishing with all his heart that the dragon slayer would one day come to the conclusion he was looking for and return home.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Sorry for the long wait. College is time consuming. The only time I've had to think about this story and its plot and all the little details has been when I'm asleep. (which isn't very often) But, as a semi-apology, this chapter is longer than the others. So enjoy.**

**Still don't own.**

**PS: the latest chapter of fairy tail stole some of my ideas.**

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu could not think of a time when he had ever been more confused than he was now. Or for that matter, anywhere close to how confused and out of his depth he felt. He had never felt this lost before, not even when Erza (just thinking about his no longer mate cause Natsu's heart to pang) had decided she would teach him to read and write if she had to beat the skill into him (and beat it into him she did.)

The pink haired dragon slayer was sitting across a blazing campfire, courtesy of himself, from Mystogan. Just being awake in the covered mage's presence was unusual. The staff wielding wizard took great care to remain a mystery to all but the Guildmaster by putting everyone else in the vicinity to sleep.

Now, not only was Natsu not snoring away happily (although he denied all of Happy's accusations about his snoring), Mystogan had tracked him down for the purpose of having this discussion with him.

The pinkette had to admit he was insanely curious as to why Mystogan would follow his tracks for over a week and why he claimed that Natsu was the only one that could help in. But, so far, the other Fairy Tail wizard hadn't said a word, and Natsu wondered if he ever would or if the mushrooms he had eaten last night were causing hallucinations.

"Okay, not that this hasn't been interesting and all," Natsu was sure the sarcasm in his voice was almost tangible, "I have places to be going. So if you're not going to explain why you're being so weird I'm gonna go now."

"Wait." Natsu paused in mid motion to stand up and stared at Mystogan.

"Please."

The dragon slayer seated himself once more and waited not without a little impatience for the other to start explaining himself.

"I need your help, Natsu Dragneel. It's something only you can do."

Said man resisted the urge to roll his eyes and walk away. "You've already said that. I want to know what the hell you're talking about. And soon."

Mystogan let out a heavy sigh. Clearly whatever he had to say was weighing heavily upon his shoulders. He took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm not actually from this world."

Natsu's dark eyes stared into his own, unwavering. Then, unexpectedly, the pink haired mage erupted into uproarious laughter. A full belly laugh. And he rolled around on the ground, clutching his hands to his stomach in attempt to quell his laughter. After a full two minutes he sat up once more, still chuckling slightly, and wiped tears of mirth out of his eyes. "That was great Mystogan. I really needed a laugh. But seriously, what do you need my help with?"

Mystogan's black eyes stared out from between his high collared cloak, bandana, forehead protector, and green mask that served to obscure his face from view uncomprehending. "I was serious Natsu. I come from a world called Edolas. It is in grave danger and I need you help to protect it."

Natsu gaped at him in disbelief. Was he really maintaining that he came from another world? From this Edolas? He could not be telling the truth. There was just no way for Mystogan to come from another world.

"Another world? Edolas?" he said weakly.

The man supposedly from a different world nodded gravely. "Yes. I come from a world called Edolas. Magic is," Mystogan paused here, "different in Edolas."

"Different." Natsu said flatly. "How? Do you need to wave a wand and say incantations?"

"It is similar. Magic in Edolas is not ambient. It is limited in how much there is. It doesn't regenerate like it does here on Earthland. And it's not found in humans. All of Edolas's magic comes from lacrimas. When I left years ago, the magic supply was dwindling, and the king was making plans to steal magic from Earthland with the Anima. I have been closing these portals so that he could not take the magic, but a large one is coming. I cannot close it on my own."

Natsu ignored the odd somewhat strained tone Mystogan said left. "All you need me to do is close the portal? Do you need to use my magic or,"

Mystogan cut him off with a shake of his head. "No. This one is too large. Even together we could not hope to close it. I am asking you to do something more dangerous than closing the Anima." The Edolas wizard ran his tongue over his lips nervously. "I want you to go through the Anima and stop the King. I want you to save Edolas. To help my home."

The pink haired man stared disbelievingly at the man sitting across the fire. Mystogan was sitting tensely on his log, his face earnest and his dark eyes shining with hope. Natsu felt overwhelmed. Mystogan was literally placing the burden of saving a whole world on his shoulders.

"Why me? Why am I the only one that can save Edolas? Why can't you save your world?"

"The magic supply in Edolas is depleting." Natsu refrained from rolling his eyes as Mystogan continued to put emphasis on Edolas's lack of magic. "In Edolas, dragon slayer magic has limitless functions. It is the ultimate form of magic. That's why I need your help. A dragon slayer is the only one who could possibly stand a chance against the King. Natsu, you are my only hope for saving Edolas."

Said dragon slayer thought it could have been a great plan. But there was one issue, "But you already said that my magic is useless in Edolas. How can I help if I can't use magic?"

"But you can. Dragon slayers are the only wizards that can use magic without a lacrima." Mystogan's voice wavered, "Please help me, Natsu. Help me save Edolas."

Mystogan fell silent waiting for Natsu's decision. The pinkette was trying to think of various reasons why he shouldn't just run off and save a world that he hadn't known existed until an hour ago. But all he could discover were reasons to go.

He was alone. That may have been by his choice, but nonetheless he was alone. Erza, gods it hurt even to think about her, cared more for Jellal than him. He couldn't help but listen to the voice that hissed that Mystogan, somewhat he wasn't close to and someone not even from this world, was the only one to come after him. Natsu decidedly ignored the part of him that said Mystogan only came because he needed Natsu's help.

The dragon slayer rose off his log and Mystogan did the same. He didn't address the anxiously waiting staff wizard, but instead turned his attention to the campfire. Natsu inhaled the fire, smacked his lips, and stretched his arms up and behind his head. The really cool thing about being a true dragon slayer, he discovered, was the ability to eat his own fire and not get violently sick.

"Now I'm all fired up. So, how are we getting to Edolas?"

A grin that was a mixture of relief and gratitude blossomed on Mystogan's face. Well, that's what Natsu assumed because he couldn't actually see the guy's face, just the shift from the clothe covering it.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu gaped, uncaring of the bemused looks he received from Mystogan for doing so.

Edolas was so much cooler than he had imagined. It was a world of floating islands. Floating islands. And the river flowed through the sky. Edolas was simply amazing and Natsu was hard pressed to keep his attention on Mystogan and the plan he was detailing because all he wanted to do was explore this new and fascinating world.

"Come, Natsu. We must go to the Royal City." The taller male swept his arm out, motioning to their east at one of the larger islands. Natsu could see clearly from this distance the towers that reached for the sky and the surrounding walls of the palace.

"Royal City." He deadpanned. "You people are so unimaginative. Can't even name your capital."

Mystogan's only reply was a wry grin as he began the trek towards Edolas's center island, home to the palace where they would find the King. Natsu sighed, muttering under his breath, but not so quietly that his partner couldn't hear, about just how uncreative the people of Edolas were and how he could have given the city a much cooler name.

Mystogan had to stifle his laughter. He was pretty sure that Natsu City and Dragon Palace wouldn't be appreciated.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

They were a little over an hour into their journey, and Natsu was starting to think that this island never ended and he was worrying about how they would get from there island to the one the palace was on, when the ground gave a frightening lurch beneath them.

The dragon slayer staggered and lost his balance. The unexpected pulsing of the earth beneath him slammed him into a tree. There was a nasty crack; Natsu's elbow broke. He drew blood when he bit his bottom lip to keep from crying out in pain. Cradling his right arm, he slid down to the base of the trunk.

The tremors stopped. Natsu turned his head, trying to find Mystogan.

Mystogan looked as confused as he felt, leaning heavily on one of his many staffs in order to maintain his balance. The earth stopped shaking and Natsu thought that it was over, whatever it was.

He was wrong.

The ground lurched again, this time literally dropping out from underneath his feet. The pinkette flailed wildly for a few seconds before gravity reasserted and slammed him into the earth. This time he could not stop his scream of pain. Although it did remind him that he was stuck in the middle of nowhere on an island that for all intentions seemed to be trying to buck the two wizards off, and Natsu couldn't even begin to think about where on Edolas he would find someone capable of healing magic. The rest of the journey, which appeared to be getting even longer, was going to be painful.

Natsu propped himself up on his uninjured hand. "Hey! Mystogan! What the hell is going on here?"

Said blue haired prince didn't answer him. Natsu bit back the urge to start swearing at the man from Edolas and asked his question again.

"The magic of Edolas is failing. It is the magic that holds up Edolas's floating islands. With the loss of magic, none of the islands will stay afloat. We need to hurry and get to the palace. I had not known that the situation was so dire."

"Well, I'm all for hurrying and getting the hell of the falling islands, but how exactly do you plan to get off?" Natsu bit out.

Mystogan gave him a sideways look. "You are going to fly us to the palace. A dragon slayer is the only wizard that can naturally use the magic within him in Edolas."

The dragon slayer gaped at him. He could use magic here? And he hadn't told him? "Why didn't you tell me I could use magic? I could have had us at the Royal City hours ago. I didn't have to walk!"

"Edolas has a royal army. There is a whole division, led by Erza Knightwalker, whose sole purpose is to hunt down wizards who use magic without the King's permission. To hunt down the guilds." Natsu froze at the mention of Erza. Erza had an Edolas counterpart too? And she worked for the evil king? Hunting down their nakama?

"They have ways to detect the usage of magic. I was hoping not need you to use your magic. It would have been a great advantage if we could surprise them with your ability to use magic unimpeded by the deterioration of Edolas's magic." Mystogan continued.

Natsu cracked his knuckles, fiery wings exploding behind him. "Alright, one express trip to the Royal City coming right up."

"No, Natsu. The more magic you use the easier it will be for Knightwalker to find us. Just take us to the next island. We'll continue to travel on foot from there. We need to lay low. Our only chance of beating the king is if we can surprise him." The prince cautioned.

"We must not be caught. We have to avoid Erza and the rest of the Royal Magical Army at all costs."

Natsu sobered, staring at Mystogan's solemn expression. As impossible as it was to imagine an Erza that chased down and arrested Fairy Tail wizards, he knew of Edolas only what his quiet partner had told him so he would have to trust him and avoid using magic.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

The dragon slayer ferried the Edolas native to the next island, one full of trees, and followed Mystogan through the dense forest. The silent forest disturbed Natsu. He had grown up in a forest with Igneel. It had been full of sounds of other animals. Now, however, he only heard the echoes of his and Mystogan's footsteps and the rustling of the branches. It made him feel uneasy, almost like someone was hiding in the canopy, shrouded by leaves, watching them.

Given the older male's preaching on being cautious about using his magic, Natsu was completely taken surprised when Mystogan practically waltzed right up a huge tree with the Fairy Tail symbol painted on the door.

Mystogan threw the door wide open and everybody inside stilled. Then there was a shout, "Mystogan's back!" and the blue haired man found himself at the bottom of a very large dogpile.

Natsu stood awkwardly when Mystogan dug himself out of the pile and introduced him. Fairy Tail looked the same. Aside from being located inside a tree. But it still had a bar, manned by a Mirajane doppelganger, the mission board, the second floor (how did that fit inside a tree?), and all the same people.

Except for Erza. And plus a Lisanna. Natsu nearly cried when he spotted the white hair of his friend. Guilt churned in his stomach. Lisanna had died on a mission in Edolas. A mission he had asked Mira if he could accompany the Strauss siblings on. Natsu had often taken missions with Lisanna and her brother and sister. But this time he had been rebuffed, told he wasn't need. It was a simple mission and they would be back the next day.

But Lisanna didn't come back. He still didn't know the full details, but they had come across something unexpected, a monster that even the Demon Mirajane couldn't defeat.

And Lisanna had died.

Lisanna wasn't the only change. While the people of the Edolas Fairy Tail resembled his nakama from Earthland, their personalities were the exact opposite. Lucy was dressed in black and quite the badass. And much stronger than Earthland Lucy. Alzack and Bisca (very skimpily dressed Bisca) were all over each other. Natsu could see the pink hearts floating around the couple. Levy was extremely competitive, and with Lucy of all people. And Wendy! The sweet, innocent, childish Wendy that had only just recently joined his guild was all grown up. A woman with breasts!

Reedus was stick thin, Elfman had no muscles, Gray wore so many layers of clothes that Natsu contemplated shoving him and seeing if he could roll, Juvia revealed a lot of skin and was totally domineering (Gray loved Juvia but she hated him!), and Cana was dressed in some ruffley dress with a wide brimmed hat preaching about getting along and how other people shouldn't be drinking so much.

Natsu had never felt so out of place.

Until he met his counterpart.

Edolas Natsu looked the same as he did; spikey pink hair, black eyes, slightly tanned skin. He was wearing what Natsu guessed to be a racer's outfit, although he couldn't figure out why. Edolas Natsu seemed abnormally nervous, sitting at his table with Lucy (at least that hadn't changed) trembling (though that could have been because Lucy had threatened to test Torture Technique number 38 on him) in his chair.

Natsu was astounded to discover that his twin only felt comfortable in a car and believed himself vulnerable and exposed if he wasn't in a vehicle. He had never heard of someone being afraid of being on land, but Edolas Natsu was; and he would have lived in his car if it weren't for scary Lucy and her threats.

Natsu was jealous that his Edolas image could even think about getting in a car without getting sick.

The fire magic user turned his attention back to Mystogan, who had finished explaining why he was here while Natsu was observing the Edolas Fairy Tail.

"Will you help us?"

The whole guild shifted anxiously and adopted looks a cross between guilty and nervous. "You know we normally would, Mystogan, but we're the last guild in Edolas. Knightwalker has been tracking us down for years. We've only just barely managed to survive all these years by transporting the guild. But we only have enough magic for one last jump. If this were to fail, we would be trapped in the Royal City. It would be like handing ourselves over to Knightwalker. We can't take that risk."

Lucy answered for the whole guild. Each member was nodding along with her. Natsu felt fury clawing at his throat. This was their country, their world, their magic at stake, and not one of them was willing to take the risk and chance defeat to save it. They were going to leave it all up to him and Mystogan, really just Natsu because he was the only one who could use magic freely.

This guild may have looked like Fairy Tail, and the people looked like his guildmates, but these were not his nakama. They may have borne the symbol of Fairy Tail, but none of them were actually a member of this guild. Not one of them felt the bonds between nakama. None of them had Fairy Tail's unwavering courage or sense of justice. Each and every one of them was content to sit on the sidelines and hide in their portable guild hall, waiting for someone else to come and rescue them.

It disgusted Natsu. He wanted nothing to do with Fairy Tail wizards that didn't have it in them to do the right thing. Or cause chaos, havoc, mayhem, and destruction like all Fairy Tail wizards were supposed to.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Mystogan followed Natsu out of the tree turned guild, attempting to question the pinkette.

"Wait, Natsu. Where are you going? We need to convince them to help us fight King Faust. We don't stand a chance on our own."

"You're wrong," was his soft spoken but firm reply. "You've been preaching about how a dragon slayer is special, how I can do what others can't. I have, according to you, unlimited magic at my disposal, all the while Edolas's magic is vanishing. We don't need them. They wouldn't be able to help us. They're not even real members of Fairy Tail."

Mystogan was confused. "What do you mean? Of course they're Fairy Tail wizards. They're the only guild left. And they all have the stamp."

"Having the stamp doesn't make you a member of Fairy Tail." Natsu shook his head. "Fairy Tail is the strongest guild in the Kingdom of Fiore, not just because we have some of the strongest wizards out there, but because of the bonds we share, and the will to discover new adventures and tackle new challenges. Because we push ourselves and those around us to become stronger.

"Those people in there don't do that. You heard them. They told you plain as day they weren't going to lift a finger to help save their world. They're too afraid for themselves to fight for others. They don't belong in Fairy Tail."

The prince of Edolas could only stare stunned at Natsu's back as the dragon slayer walked away. Even during his time on Earthland, Mystogan had never given thought to the bonds his other guildmates shared amongst them. He never questioned why they forged those bonds, and why he didn't. He had gone out of his way to ensure that he didn't form any close ties with anyone on Earthland since he knew he would be returning to Edolas.

Was it friendship that made the Fairy Tail of Earthland so strong? Was it because they fought for something other than their survival? What did that mean for his world? The citizens of Edolas feared the Exceed Queen that was revered as a god and could order the death of any human. Would none of them be able to fight because they were all too afraid of what would happen to them?

But if that was so, how was he ever going to save Edolas? Even a dragon slayer that Natsu was wouldn't be able to save a world singlehandedly. That's why they needed Fairy Tail to fight with them.

In the end, Mystogan decided to follow Natsu. The pinkette knew more about guilds and Fairy Tail then he did, so maybe he was right. Maybe it was the bonds between nakama that made the wizards of Fairy Tail so strong. The bonds that the Fairy Tail of Edolas lacked. Maybe Natsu's faith and his strength would be enough to win this battle.

So Mystogan trailed after the dragon slayer, choosing to believe that Natsu's strength and belief in the bonds he cherished would be the reckoning that Edolas needed to realize that they needed to change.

And as he walked behind Natsu, focused on the gold trimmed black waistcoat and white scaled scarf that fluttered behind him, Mystogan found himself believing that Natsu was capable of miracles, because he exuded such power and authority so naturally.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Erza had tried.

She really did. When Natsu had left over a week ago, without any explanation, without saying goodbye, she had really tried not to break down and hole herself up in his cottage again. She didn't want to be so dependent on one person.

Needless to say, since she was once more ensconced in his hammock, she had failed. Erza had lasted until the Master had finally caved and given her the explanation she had been demanding for a week and a half.

For the second time, Natsu was gone because of her. He might not have been dead this time, but he had left. Natsu had abandoned Fairy Tail, abandoned her, because she foolishly begged him to save Jellal, to keep her childhood friend out of prison. Erza had made him question her feelings for him. Natsu thought that she wanted Jellal more the she wanted him.

He had left because he couldn't be happy without her, and he thought she was happy with Jellal.

But Natsu was wrong.

Erza cried noisily. Her eyes turned bloodshot and puffy. The salt from her tears dried the skin on her face, making it hurt to even blink. Snotty tissues littered the ground.

She cared greatly for Natsu. He was a constant in her life. Ever since he had joined Fairy Tail, the pink haired boy had been a constant source of amusement. He was always there, always smiling brightly, always eager for the next fight, always practicing to get stronger.

Natsu could make her smile. His presence washed away the day's troubles and made Erza feel less fatigue. He never failed to manage to cheer her up. He was always there. Loud. Bright. Obnoxious. Causing mischief. Grinning like a fool. Full of excitement. Eager. Full of energy. Caring. Pushing himself to exhaustion.

His disappearance was just as noticeable the second time around. Even more so because every had the knowledge that, this time, Natsu had chosen to leave. This time their nakama had deliberately left Fairy Tail behind.

Most of the guild didn't know why Natsu had left, so none of them blamed Erza.

But it didn't matter. She blamed herself.

Natsu had told her she was his perfect mate. She was his other half and he was hers. There was no one in Fiore better for him. He had told her that he loved her. He didn't care that he had to wait for her to love him.

Now that he was gone, Erza was startled to come to the revelation that she loved Natsu. She had thought it would take more time to fall in love with him. But looking back on her memories, from times where she had beat him up for making mistakes during his reading and writing lessons to times when he had defended her, protected her, taken the fall, the blame, the hit, for her, she had reached the conclusion that she had already loved the spikey pink haired dragon slayer with a roguish grin and had been denying her feelings.

Her new found epiphany did her no good. Natsu was gone. Erza couldn't tell him the she loved him. That she wanted him more than Jellal. That she would always care for him more than she did for her childhood friend.

Erza stood from the hammock. She wasn't going to curl in on herself and cry until she had no tears left. She and Natsu were supposed to be mates. Surely that meant they were connected somehow? She would be able to find Natsu.

She strode out of Natsu's house, red hair whipping side to side with her fast, clipped gait, determination visible in every muscle. The dragon slayer only had ten days on her. She would bring him back and make him see how much she loved him.

Then she would beat him half to death for leaving her again.

How hard could it be to find one pink haired dragon slayer capable of accidentally destroying towns?


	12. Chapter 12

Erza's self-pity vanished as quickly as she ate her beloved strawberry shortcake. Never mind that pitying herself was useless and wouldn't help her find Natsu, but she found herself becoming more and more vexed.

She. Could. Not. Find. Natsu.

_Anywhere_.

It was like the fire dragon slayer had just upped and vanished. Natsu was terrible at keeping a low profile. He couldn't leave the guild without destroying something. Usually something big and important and valuable and irreplaceable. He was infamous for leaving behind a trail of destruction wherever he traveled. He was physically incapable of traveling quickly and silently.

But the red headed Ex-Quip mage had scoured Magnolia for a week and found nothing. No rumors that half of some city had been ravaged, or a dock torn apart, or a statue reduced to rubble. No mountains that had been sheared, no town squares demolished, no lakes boiled into vapor, no mentioning of a pink haired male in search of a dragon. She found herself wanting to give into the urge to retreat back to Fairy Tail and demand again that Master Makarov tell her where Natsu went.

'To hell with it.' Erza thought. She would return anyway. Makarov knew more than he was sharing. And if she couldn't get him to tell Erza would hint to Mira that the Master was keeping secrets. He had learned years ago that keeping secrets from "Demon" Mirajane was a terrible idea.

Plan decided, the armor wearing mage stood from the little outdoor café table she had stopped at for lunch and a slice of strawberry shortcake.

The weather, nice, bright, and sunny, took a drastic turn for the worst. Unexplainably, the sky darkened, thunder rolled, lightning crackled and rain pelted the narrow streets. Erza had time to blink before she found herself being pulled upwards into a vortex that had opened in the sky.

She didn't even have the chance to pay for her meal.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu gazed interestedly at the city below him.

The Royal City, he still couldn't get over how lame a name it was, rested in the center of Edolas. It wasn't the most imposing and awe inspiring castle he had ever seen. The area around the palace was divided into zones, each of which was fortified by a wall and positioned slightly above the previous one, forming a spiral structure around the palace. In each zone there were numerous towers of different inconsistent sizes. Most of the towers were located directly at the palace itself.

It had the height factor, complete with golden emblems and giant golden entrance gates, but even from this distance Natsu could see some kind of amusement park. It could have just been him, but it made no sense to have an amusement park in a country's capital.

But he digressed. "So, what do we do now?"

Mystogan was silent.

"I vote for the direct approach."

His partner finally looked at him. "And what would that be?" he asked suspiciously.

"I fly us over, burn a couple of towers, this place has plenty to spare, you direct me to the throne room or wherever the hell this king is, and I beat him up and force him to abdicate," grinned Natsu.

The man originally from Edolas gapped at him, unbelieving.

"You call that a plan?"

"Not like you had any other idea." Natsu snorted at Mystogan's astonishment. How else were they supposed to save Edolas if they didn't stop the king? That was the whole reason Mystogan had asked him to come to Edolas. If he didn't like his plans, than Mystogan could go sulk with the not-Fairy Tail while Natsu did his job.

The cloaked man sighed. "It's not that simple, Natsu. You can't just force King Faust to relinquish control over Edolas."

"And why not? Don't you medieval people have some sort of ceremony where I can challenge him for the crown?"

Mystogan blinked. The use of the ancient ceremonies had never occurred to him. "There's only one problem. Only a relation of the king with claim to the throne can issue the challenge." Natsu slumped, disappointed that his solution wouldn't work and that he wouldn't get to beat the crap out of a king. He had been looking forward to fighting this Faust guy since his companion had asked him to help.

The dragon slayer turned to face Mystogan, mouth already open to ask for the sixteenth time just what exactly was their plan, to find him looking pensive and wringing his hands.

"Mystogan?" he asked, when a guilty look crossed what little of his face Natsu could see.

"I can challenge King Faust and then appoint you to fight for me as my champion."

Natsu stared at Mystogan. He has just told him only a relative could challenge the King, so how could he? Unless. . .

The pinkette felt slightly faint. Mystogan was related to Faust. And given his age he was most likely the King's son. Which would make Mystogan a prince. Natsu could not believe that the quiet and secretive man next to him was royalty. Why on Earth would a prince of Edolas be on Earthland? Why did he hide his face, his identity from his own world?

"How?"

Mystogan gave him a rueful smile. "I was born Prince Jellal, son of King Faust."

Jellal. _Prince Jellal._

Natsu sank to the ground. Disbelief was his strongest emotion. It just could not be possible. One Jellal was horrible enough. There simply could not be two of him.

"Prince Jellal?" his voice came out strangled from anger and surprise. Mysto. . . no, Jellal winced.

"The Jellal you have encountered is the Jellal of Earthland. We are in no way related, nor or we the same person."

Jellal would have continued to plead with Natsu for a chance to be heard, as said dragon slayer was beginning to look extremely pissed at having being deceived. Flames already flared around his fists and the ground he was sitting on was starting to smoke. It looked like hellfire blazed in his black eyes. However, they were interrupted by the arrival of a gigantic monster covered in blue scales. The creature had a sharp, angular face, with two rows of large and likely razor sharp teeth each larger than the size of his hand, and large white eyes. And for such an enormous hulking creature, it was such a fast flier.

Natsu didn't even see the gigantic blue flying monster. All he could do was stare in horror at the figure standing on the creature's back. It was impossible for him to not recognize her.

Standing proudly and coldly upon the flying creature was a woman with sanguine hair the color of blood dressed in a very provocative outfit comprising of a revealing, halter-type armor breastplate top, that leaves much of her cleavage and stomach exposed, with light-armored gauntlets and greaves on her forearms and forelegs, respectively, as well as her thighs. She also wore a dark bikini bottom with a piece of cloth obscuring her hips and a dark scarf was wound around her neck, similar to him.

She had to be the Erza Knightwalker that Mystogan, no he was Jellal, had warned him about. Captain of the Royal Army second division, also known as the Fairy Hunter because she was responsible for killing over half the members of Fairy Tail.

This was his Erza's counterpart. The Edolas Erza. She didn't believe in the strength of bonds. She hunted down and killed people that should have been her nakama. And she did it with a smile, similar to the one she wore now as she pointed a spear that split into four jagged ends that curved inwards, resembling a jaw, at them.

Neither mage had time to react before Knightwalker aimed her wicked spear at them. The spear glowed and changed shape. What it became, Natsu could not tell, because of the buildup of a sphere of black magic that sparked with lightning. The huge orb launched at them. It made Natsu feel as if his limbs had suddenly gained a hundred pounds.

"Natsu Dragion. Out of that infernal car at last." Knightwalker's cool voice and sadistic smile sent chills down Natsu's spine.

"Dragneel! My name is Natsu Dragneel. I'm from Earthland." He blurted. From the corner of his eye he could see the prince (he still couldn't fathom Jellal being a prince in this world) stiffen.

"Natsu Dragneel, from Earthland. You look remarkably like your counterpart." Erza paused to examine Jellal, expecting him to offer his own name as Natsu had done. When he was silent she continued. "Take them away."

A pair of handcuffs was slapped on Natsu's wrists. He was too stunned to see a double of Erza, Erza who had rejected him in favor of Jellal, of whom another version stood next to him, that he couldn't prevent himself from being knocked out.

Jellal could do nothing to save Natsu or himself. He had been placed in cuffs of his own, but even if he hadn't he did not have the magic energy to fight off the entirety of the second division of the Royal Magic Army. Natsu probably could have, if he were not unconscious. He couldn't help but think it was extremely unlucky for them that Knightwalker had knocked out Natsu. As a dragon slayer, Natsu was the only one out of the two of them capable of facing the Fairy Hunter and her squadron and winning.

Now they were going to be taken prisoner in the castle.

And later killed. By Erza Knightwalker herself.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Knightwalker had seen no need to separate the two Fairy Tail wizards she had captured. She threw them in a cell with another Fairy Tail wizard who claimed to called Erza.

Knightwalker was furious. Her Earthland counterpart was a Fairy. She couldn't understand how she could be part of a guild. The guilds were evil, hording magic for themselves. They posed a threat to the survival of the kingdom and could not be allowed to remain. They used what little magic Edolas had for their own selfish gain. Only the King was allowed to decide how magic was used. And the Queen of the Exceeds. But her loyalty was to her king.

She wasn't worried about placing three Fairy Tail wizards in the same cell. If they were truly from Earthland they had no magic to access and wouldn't be going anywhere other than to their public execution.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu groaned when he woke. His head was throbbing like someone had taken a sword and slammed the flat side of it against his head.

He blinked, taking in the oddly brightly light cell with bars for doors that looked out to what appeared to be a courtyard. Someone had actually nailed him in the back of the head with a spear. It was no wonder he now had a major headache.

"Natsu."

Said pink haired male awkwardly sat up, it was really uncomfortable to sit with his arms bound, to discover that he was not alone in his cell.

There were two other people. Jellal, still covered from head to toe so that only his eyes were visible, and a very familiar scarlet haired mage.

"Erza?"

What was Erza doing here? She was supposed to be at the Guild with Earthland Jellal. How did she end up in Edolas?

"The anima." Jellal answered his unasked question. "King Faust is still trying to steal magic from Earthland by bringing Earthland wizards to Edolas and turning them into lacrima."

"He's turning people into lacrima!" Natsu scrambled to his feet and grabbed the fabric of Jellal's cloak. "Has he taken anyone else from Fairy Tail? Has he turned my nakama into crystals?"

"That's not all, Natsu. In order for him to 'return magic to Edolas,'" Erza said the last part with disgust, "he has to shatter the lacrima."

The tan color washed from Natsu's skin, leaving him looking a sickly, pale shade of white. "Shatter them? He's killing people for magic?" Natsu's voice was quiet and tight, but he was easily understood by those who shared his cell.

Erza nodded solemnly. "That's what they plan to do to us."


	13. Chapter 13

Natsu has always been famous amongst the guild for his fiery temper. It raged and burned and could be fueled by practically anything. It was as unpredictable and as uncontrollable as a forest fire and could explode with the force of a bomb.

Right now, that fuel came from the whole damn Royal City and the stupid world it resided in. The entire city was in an uproar. He could hear people celebrating a return of magic to their world. They set off fireworks. FIREWORKS for Igneel's sake. The city was prepared to commit murder just so that they would have magic.

And it sickened Natsu. So much so that he was able to ignore that he was currently locked in a cell with Erza, who had rejected him, and Prince Jellal, the Edolas counterpart of the man his mate had rejected him for.

The current issue was getting out of the cell and saving the rest of Fairy Tail. Natsu had tried once already to escape. The jail cell's bars were embedded with lightning lacrima, and he was shocked so badly that his spiky pink hair, which already stood on ends, smoked and blackened at the tips. He could still smell the burning hair.

That was over an hour ago.

Natsu had been ready to burn the bars down and hunt down the idiotic king that thought he would get away with smashing his crystalized friends to bits, but Erza had staid his hand, forced him to wait until she and Jellal had created a concrete plan of attack.

The dragon slayer paced the small five by five stone room anxiously as his cell mates argued over their next move. Erza wanted to take care of Knightwalker first, being of the opinion that getting out wouldn't matter if her insane alter ego put them right back with increased security. Jellal, on the other hand, wanted to approach his father and try to talk some reason into him, which would be difficult to do considering the prince had been exiled years ago.

"SHUT UP! Both of you just shut up!" he roared.

Erza and Jellal stared at him, shocked by his outburst.

"Have both of you forgotten that the guild has been transformed into a giant lacrima that your stupid father and your stupid other plan to smash to bits. They're going to kill Fairy Tail, and you two sit there bickering over who's the biggest threat!"

The red haired mage dropped her head shamefully. "You're right, Natsu." She missed the flinch he gave when she said his name. "We should be devising a plan of escape and find the location of the lacrima."

"Devise a plan of escape?" Natsu echoed. "WE ALREADY HAVE ONE!"

He made an exaggerated movement of his arm to point at himself and then the bars. "Dragon slayer. Door. I can use magic to break us out of here. Something that I would have already done if the two of you had listened to me."

This time the pink haired male didn't wait for them to start arguing the pros and cons and the best way to go about this. He drew in a deep breath, expanded his gut as now enlarged lungs took in more air, ans spewed fire at the door. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

The flames were so hot that it left scorch marks on the stone and completely obliterated the bars. There wasn't even a puddle of melted metal on the floor. Natsu walked through the now open doorway and sniffed the air, searching for the largest source of magic, positive that would be his friend since this world had little magic of its own.

Jellal and Erza gaped, shared a look in which the red head wanted to know why Natsu could use magic when she couldn't and the question was not answered, and followed the bright pink hair as he tore through the castle.

Natsu thanked Igneel that the Erza of Edolas was unaware of the magic that he possessed and of the fact that he could use that magic. The only security in place had been the bars of the jail cell which he easily destroyed. No one thought to think that the wizards from Earthland's Fairy Tail might be capable of using magic in Edolas and didn't bother to put in place and guards or magic monitoring devices.

Their stupidity and ignorance made his mission easier. He followed his nose through the empty castle. His path lead him to a large tower where the scent seemed as if it was coming from above him. He craned his neck to stare above him.

The floating islands that he thought had been so cool when he had first seen them were no longer the most awesome thing Natsu had ever seen. Way above him, on one of the larger islands, was the largest lacrima crystal he had seen, not including the Tower of Heaven. It was floating above the heads of the people celebrating. The king was showing off the lacrima that would supply Edolas with years to come. In the courtyard where the celebration was being held he could see a cannon, already loaded and waiting to be fired.

Natsu would not let that cannon be fired. He would die before he let his guild be destroyed.

Fire exploded into existence behind him, taking on the appearance of dragon wings. Erza grabbed him just as he was about to launch himself from the tower. His body shivered at her touch, which he hadn't felt in so long.

"Wait, Natsu! You can't just jump down there and attack everyone. Those are innocent people. Jellal and I think it would be better if you destroyed another part of the city, draw away the guards and mercenaries surrounding the king so he and I can take care of him."

Any joy he had felt when Erza touched him disappeared when she cautioned him against hurting the crowds of people. He felt the strangest sensation, as if his heart felt like it had frozen. She thought he would kill innocent citizens. Bystanders and children. Erza believed him capable of thoughtless murder. The icy feeling continued as she detailed hers and Jellal's plans.

Natsu halted her speech with a hand. "Even if I did draw away every guard in that courtyard, what could you and Jellal do against the king? Neither of you can use magic. You would only succeed in getting yourselves locked up again or killed on the spot."

Erza blinked at his harsh words. The Natsu she knew never spoke to her like that. Actually, he never spoke in that manner at all. He was lighthearted and fun and teasing.

"And I would _never_ kill innocent people."

With that parting shot said, Natsu dive bombed off the tower, aiming for the gleaming cannon. Erza could only slap herself when she realized that he had been intending to target the cannon all along. She had opened her mouth too wide and proceeded to shove both feet right in.

How was it that every time she talked to Natsu lately, she said things she didn't mean to say? Erza didn't know, but she promised to not let it continue. The next time she was able to sit down and talk with the dragon slayer wizard, she would tell him that she loved him and explain that she hadn't chosen Jellal over him and wanted him to return home to Fairy Tail and be with her.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu reveled in his ability to fly as the wind whipped through his hair and clothes. Somehow, he found it easier to think when he was flying. Below him, he could already hear the screams as people noticed his fiery wings heading their direction.

The party ended abruptly as people tried to run in every direction and get away from the approaching fiery form in the sky. The courtyard dissolved into chaos. Guards blasted bolts of pure magic at him. He dodged some, ate others, and laughed as they futilely tried to stop him.

Natsu ignited his whole body on fire and rammed into the cannon at full speed. "FIRE DRAGON'S SWORD HORN!"

The cannon exploded into pieces of metal shrapnel, which clattered harmlessly to the paved courtyard that was now empty, and a brilliant blaze of flames, which became a pick me up for the fire dragon slayer. Natsu stood from the wreckage and faced King Faust, who was cowering without protection because his bodyguards had long since fled.

He raised another flaming fist, internally delighted when the king flinched at the movement. "Return my friends to me now."

"What friends? They were in the same prison as you."

He cringed when Natsu grabbed him by the throat. It took every ounce of self-control he possessed to keep his flames from burning the cretin, but the pathetic man still thrashed and wriggled, trying to escape. "Not those two. I know where they are. I want you to turn my friends back. Undo whatever you did to make them into a lacrima, or I'm going to destroy this world and everything in it so that you won't ever need magic again."

"No. Edolas needs more magic. I'm going to destroy your friends and let magic rain down on Edolas and renew this world." The king spat.

Natsu dropped him in disgust, wiping his hand off on his waistcoat.

The king stood, slamming his scepter into the ground. The ground shook violently. Whatever the king was doing was drawing a substantial amount of magic towards him. And not just from the ground. He took it from the sky too. A smaller island crashed into a townhouse without the magic to keep it afloat.

"What are you doing?"

He got his answer when a large black object broke through the ground beneath them. The king scurried inside while Natsu took to the air.

The king was sitting in an enormous machine dragon. The king's voice rang out.

"This is Dorma Anim. It has the capability to nullify all magic attacks. Surrender now, and I will kill you first so that you do not see your precious friends destroyed."

"You're not going to be killing anybody, you old geezer!"

The old king spluttered at the term geezer. "You can't stop me, Fairy Tail Wizard. What can one wizard, even if you can perform magic, do against me? Your other two friends are separated from you and the rest of your guild has been transformed into a magical lacrima. Face it, you're are alone and cannot hope to win this fight."

"I may be separated from my friends," Natsu admitted, "BUT I AM NOT ALONE! I WILL NEVER BE ALONE! I am not alone. I can hear them... I can hear everyone's voices... I can sense everyone's feelings... I am not alone... Everyone's feelings... They support me... They are what give me the will to stand and fight!"

"You wish to stand and fight? So be it." The king released a magical blast, larger than Natsu had ever seen. But it hadn't been aimed at him.

"ERZA!"


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: I am so sorry that this chapter took so long. My classes this semester all think that pop quizzes are the best way of ensuring that students come to class and that their prepared. Unfortunately they're right. I spend hours reading and studying chapters of four textbooks on the off chance that tomorrow will be the day that they spring a pop quiz. I've had seven already and class only started on the 17****th****.**

**Anyway, enough of my excuses. Enjoy!**

"ERZA!"

Two Erzas that had been locked in combat turned in the direction from which their shared name had been shouted. Knightwalker, because it was her name called, and Titania, because it was Natsu that had yelled her name.

The pair was met with a ray of white magic barreling straight at them.

Knightwalker disengaged, leaping up onto her Legion to get a safe distance away from the impending blast. Erza thanked her lucky stars that the Jellal of Edolas had given her a pill to take which allowed her to use her magic here as naturally as she did in Earthland. She Re-Quipped into her Adamantine Armor, bringing together the two halves of the giant shield strapped to each arm. This shield had withstood a direct blast from Phantom Lord's Jupiter cannon. Even if it had shattered afterwards, it had saved her and her guild, so she had no doubts that it would save her again.

A large magical barrier sprung to life in front of her. She dug her feet into the earth as it exerted more pressure on her barrier. The magic in front of the barrier built up, and when the blast was dying down, exploded. Erza was thrown backwards into a tall pillar, which cracked and fell on top of her.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

"ERZA!"

Natsu could only watch horrified as the king's attack connected with the girl he loved. Erza was dead. She had no access to magic while they were trapped in Edolas. She couldn't protect herself or fight off a direct blast of magic.

The light vanished. He watched as Erza was blasted backwards and slammed into a pillar that held up a balcony of the palace overlooking the courtyard. There was a mighty crack as the stone split. The tower leaned a little; then fell forward onto the Re-Quip mage lying at its base.

"ERZA! EEERRRRZZZZAAAAAA! GET UP ERZA! GET UP!"

Natsu continued to yell at her. It did him no good. The red haired mage did not move.

"You are alone now, dragon slayer. Tell me now how you plan to defeat me."

The king's condescending tone and mocking words sparked a fire deep inside Natsu. This man had just callously killed his mate, the only girl he would ever love, and now was laughing at him and his imminent defeat at his hands.

Natsu's rage and hatred fueled an inner fire. With a roar that shook the palace, Natsu transformed. Gone was the pink haired boy. In his place was a majestic dragon with rippling red, white, and yellow scales so that it looked like the dragon itself was burning.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

The king gasped. There were vague descriptions of the feats dragon slayers were capable of in ancient records, but not one had mentioned, or even hinted, that the a wizard had the ability to become a dragon himself. He had anticipated fighting a human that could use magic, not an actually dragon.

Sweat beaded on his forehead and slid down his face. King Faust so desperately wanted to capture this magnificent creature that had enough magic to power Edolas for centuries to come, but he was not confident that he would win this fight anymore.

No one could beat a dragon. That was why he had designed Dorma Anim in the shape of a dragon. It put fear into the heart of any that would oppose him. After all, who would ever imagine that they have the power to defeat a dragon? Fear combined with its ability to nullify magic made it the perfect weapon.

But, staring down the face of a very real dragon, Faust was ready to admit that maybe he was the one without a plan. Black eyes glared murderously at him, promising his death.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu felt like he had been consumed by an inferno. He had transformed into a dragon once before, only a little over a week ago, but it was not the same. Last time it had been a controlled transformation. Natsu had retained complete control.

This time, it was the dragon within in charge. He let out a cry of despair, anguish, and pure pain. The dragon had lost his lifetime mate.

Natsu silently screamed with him.

It seemed like years ago that Igneel had told him that he needed to become one with his inner dragon. When Natsu had sacrificed himself to the Tower of Heavens and opened his eyes to see his father, he truly thought he had died. He had cried himself hoarse, having held onto the hope that he would survive and finally be able to build up the courage to tell Erza that he loved her from the time he first saw her when she broke up his fight with Gray.

Igneel had slapped him as gently as a dragon could with his tail and told Natsu that he wasn't dead. The fire dragon had gone on to explain the dragons had been forced to flee from Acnologia and that they couldn't return until the Dragon King had been dealt with.

It took a lot of convincing for Igneel to get Natsu to believe that he had the power to kill the most feared dragon in Earthland. Igneel had explained all about Acnologia's past, a dragon slayer that had turned permanently into a dragon, and said that only a true dragon slayer, that is a wizard one hundred percent in tune with his dragon could defeat him, and that it was the job of the true dragon slayer to kill Acnologia so that the dragons could return.

If not for the promised return of the dragons, the pinkette would have never even considered facing off against the Dragon King. But he had been searching for Igneel for years, and now he had the chance to bring back not only his father, but Gradeeney and Metalicana and every other dragon that had disappeared on July 7, X777.

And so Natsu had given his word. He promised to kill Acnologia. He was given the powers of a true dragon slayer.

Igneel had cautioned him, telling him that he had to learn to control his new powers, and that required being one with his power, not just using it. He had warned him that it would be difficult, more difficult than anything he had ever done.

Natsu had thought his father had been exaggerating, honestly how hard could it be to work with the dragon within him. They already shared the same body, mind, and magic, didn't they?

But it was. Until now, faced with the death of his mate, Natsu had never even gotten this close to his dragon. Now he knew that the dragon was more than just his magic, more than just his ability to use fire, more than just his enhanced senses. The dragon was another part of him, more animalistic, stronger, and angrier. It was more than just power. The dragon felt too, deeply.

He had finally merged with his dragon. All it had taken was the death of Erza.

He no longer cared about all the pain and heartbreak the red haired wizard had caused him in the span of a week. Natsu had let his dragon's jealousy get in the way of his logic. Now that they were one his dragon could see that Erza had only been concerned about a boy she had thought her friend when they had faced Oracion Seis and Jellal had been arrested, that she was worried about his tendency to get out of control and cause damage on a larger scale than intentioned. She never once thought that he would purposefully harm innocent people, only that he would unconsciously wreak more havoc than he needed and that they would be caught in the crossfire.

Erza had died, believing that he was angry at her, that he didn't love her. He had misunderstood her, drove them apart. It was his fault that his partner was dead. What he wouldn't give to be able to fix it, to go back and tell himself to stay and listen to her instead of leaving without a trace.

Natsu wailed mournfully, rearing on back legs and using them to launch himself into the sky. He circled above the metal dragon, hovered, inhaled until his lungs felt like they would burst, and released a blazing torrent so hot he could hear the metal melting.

He would deal with the insect that had killed his mate.

And then he would find a way to join her.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

King Faust had never been near a volcano, but he imagined this is what sitting inside one that was ready to explode might feel like. The metal around him was bending and warping under the constant stream of fire. Sweat poured off him, evaporating practically immediately, until he felt dry and the slightest movement made him feel like his skin was cracking.

When he had hatched this plan to steal magic from Earthland, he had never imagined that anything like this could happen. He had known that the wizards from Earthland would be unable to use magic in Edolas, and he had carefully selected the targets of the Anima so as to avoid picking up a dragon slayer that would be capable of fighting against him. Even though the magic a dragon slayer wielded was extraordinary, the king could not risk a magic user that he could not control.

His plans had been completely destroyed because of the damn dragon slayer. The magic the pink haired wizard utilized was nothing he had ever seen. Faust had been caught surprised by the boy's shift into a dragon form, unprepared to deal with a true dragon and not just a kid that had a dragon's powers. His Dorma Anim was supposed to easily take care of the dragon slayer. Without his magic, the boy was nothing.

But Dorma Anim's nullification magic did not work against the dragon. Or the dragon was so strong that his machine was overpowered. Either way, it was bad news for King Faust, for he was going to be reduced to ashes in seconds.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Prince Jellal cursed under his breath as he made his way back to the palace. After Natsu had melted the door to their shared prison, he had set off immediately for Edolas's Fairy Tail, praying that the guild had no relocated yet.

He, Natsu, and Erza very extremely strong wizards. Based on Earthland's method of ranking wizards, he thought it reasonable to put them all on the level of the Ten Wizard Saints. But even so, they would need more than three abnormally powerful wizards to defeat his father.

So he had gone back to Fairy Tail, to convince them that they needed to stand and fight, that they could not run from the Royal Army forever. Jellal had repeated Natsu's words, desperate to make them see that the guild would not survive if they did not fight for what they believed in, that the Fairy Tail of Edolas had to fight for Edolas.

Lucy Ashley had refused again. She had firmly stated that no member of Fairy Tail was going to risk the destruction of their guild in a war they could not win.

So Jellal had left, hurling a few choice insults about their cowardice behind him, and set a fast pace back to the Royal City, finally understanding what Natsu had been saying earlier when he had claimed that that was not Fairy Tail.

They would have to make do without the guild. He could only hope that Natsu and Erza were faring better than he was.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Jellal froze above the Royal City, eyes widened as they tried to take in the sight he was seeing.

The Royal Army flew over the city, taking care to keep a great distance away from the dragon standoff below. That was what was the most surprising to him. That his father had resorted to what was supposed to be the city's last defense, not a weapon, and that Natsu was literally a dragon now.

Seeing that Natsu had it under control, Jellal tried not to think about the fact that there was no way that his father would survive the flames the dragon slayer directed at him, Jellal could fell them from where he was standing, he scanned the battlefield for Erza, the only person he didn't see. He had thought that she would be fighting with Knightwalker, or maybe besides Natsu.

But the only red head he could find was Erza Knightwalker, standing on the head of her Legion observing the fight between her King and the enemy.

'Where is she?' he thought. 'Did she try to find the lacrima?'

No. She was near. He could sense her magic. Jellal followed the faint trace of magic and was horrified to find her crushed under part of a giant stone pillar.

He dropped to his knees besides it. "Erza! Are you alright?" The scarlet haired female did not answer. Jellal ripped a staff of his back, concentrating on using wind magic to lift the pillar off of her body and throw it away. Once that was done he hastily turned her on her back, placing an ear against her chest, praying for the thump, thump of her heartbeat.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu let up on the flames, satisfied that he had more than terrified the king hidden inside the dragon armor. He circled overhead once, twice more, and then dived, jaws and talons ripping through softened metal and exposing the King of Edolas.

The old man looked ready to faint as he landed in front of Dorma Anim and stared him down the length of his snout. A vicious snarl split his lips and the king screamed.

'Goodbye, Faust,' Natsu thought as he roared.

He gathered air into his lungs, prepared to release his flames on the king one last time, ready to destroy the man responsible for his mate's, for Erza's, death, when Jellal screamed his name.

"NATSU! STOP!"

**Yes. I did make you wait over a month and left you with an evil cliffhanger. But I'm pretty sure you all know what just happened.**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Woot! This story has over 100 reviews. Thanks for all the support and sticking around for sporadic updates with terrible cliffies. And to make up for my terrible lack of time management skills, a lengthier chapter.**

**AN:2 4/6/23 Thanks to Guest who pointed out a conversation that really didn't make any sense.**

"NATSU! STOP!"

Natsu heard Jellal yelling, but there was no way he was going to listen. He was not going to stop. He would not let this foul excuse for a king, no person, live. Faust was destroying his world.

"SHE'S NOT DEAD!"

He froze. Every muscle in his body stiffened. Not dead. How was that possible? Natsu had seen her take the full blast of the king's attack. How could she not be dead?

"ERZA'S ALIVE, NATSU!"

The dragon swung around, uncaring that his tail slammed into the metal dragon and knocked it of its feet. He shifted back to human form, shoved Jellal aside, not caring that it was rude, and gently gathered Erza into his arms.

Just holding onto the love of his life, Natsu could feel the slight rise and fall of her chest. He could see her eyes moving under her eyelids, a sign that she was close to waking up. Warms tears spilled down his face. Erza was alive.

He hadn't lost his mate. He could tell her he forgave her and apologize for not using his brain as she was always telling him to. Once they were back in Earthland, Natsu was never going to leave her side again. He would never let his love out of his sight.

He would never watch her die again.

"Natsu." His name came out weakly between harsh coughs. The pink haired dragon slayer pulled Erza tight against his chest. He didn't let go until she winced.

Natsu opened his mouth, intending to rant and demand that she never scare him like that again. Instead out came a stream of apologies, anything and everything he thought he could apologize for. Erza stopped his verbal diarrhea with a hand over his mouth.

"I'm the one that should be sorry, Natsu."

He protested. "It was my dragon that thought you had rejected us! It's not your fault, Erza. I'm so sorry."

"It is my fault," she insisted. "It was my decision that made him doubt us. I asked you to save someone you hated. Someone who had hurt me. You were only trying to protect me and I didn't take your enhanced dragon sense of perception into consideration.

"You should hate me. You should hit me. I deserve it."

"No!" Natsu said vehemently. "I would never hit you, Erza, and you would never deserve it. You made a mistake. So did I. So let's just put this behind us, kick the king's ass, rescue Fairy Tail, and go home."

"Sounds like a plan."

Natsu carefully lifted the scarlet haired wizard into his arms. Jellal trotted after him as he settled his mate against part of the still standing palace wall. He spared the blue haired man a quick look, long enough for his glaring black eyes to get his message across, _Protect her or I'll kill you, _and was crossing the courtyard to the still fallen king of Edolas.

"Natsu." He looked over his shoulder at Erza's call. "Don't hold back. Cause as much damage as possible."

Natsu mirrored her smile, and stalked forward like a predator hunting its prey.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Faust lay trapped inside his ultimate weapon. Dorma Anim was supposed to be unbeatable, the only weapon with an unlimited supply of magic due to its ability to absorb magic from the world itself. His own people feared Dorma Anim, and rightly so. It was a weapon of destruction, completely unstoppable.

But this mere boy had destroyed. With little to no effort, he had destroyed the most feared weapon in all of Edolas. All because he had hurt the Knightwalker doppelganger.

How could one person be so strong? How could he destroy the one weapon that was there protection against the Exceed? And why? Why was he willing to go so far for people not of his world?

The king was unable to move, but how he wished he could run when Natsu appeared once more in the hole of Dorma Anim that he had put there only moments ago himself. He had never wanted to face an angry dragon.

And that's exactly what he was dealing with.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

The pinkette frowned at the old man that cowered away from and into his smoldering chair. What was he going to do with him?

"Are you going to kill me?"

Kill him! Natsu's mind reeled with shock. He had never planned on killing Faust. He never wanted to kill at all. The only thing he planned to kill was Acnologia. He could never kill another human. He didn't even really want to kill a dragon, but he had promised Igneel, so Natsu would see it done. He only wanted to teach Faust a lesson. Magic wasn't everything, and as a leader he had a responsibility to his people. Faust should have found an alternative that didn't involve stealing magic and killing people, or learned to live without magic.

"No."

Faust's eyes widened.

"I challenge you for the throne on behalf of your son Prince Jellal of Edolas. You are not fit to rule over the kingdom and it is time for you to step aside." Natsu recited the words Jellal had told them when the two of them first planned to fight Faust for the crown. "Now, we can either consider battle over, I've won and Jellal is crowned king, or I can continue to beat the crap out of you until you forget your own name and then see Prince Jellal on the throne.

"It's your choice, Faust."

"You win! You win! No more! Please don't hurt me!" the old man screeched.

Natsu smirked, already knowing that Faust would fold like a wet paper towel, and punched him across the face. He was pretty sure he broke the geezer's nose. It wasn't necessary, but it definitely made him feel better.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

The citizens of Edolas ran around like chickens with their heads cut off not that they no longer had magic lacrimas to rely on. Or any magic at all really.

If Natsu didn't feel so guilty about being the cause of it, he would have been laughing uproariously.

There was also the fact that the lack of magic made it impossible for him and Erza and the rest of Fairy Tail to return to Earthland.

Natsu was supposed to be resting. He hadn't been very injured, what wounds he did have had been treated and wrapped, but Wendy couldn't do anything for exhaustion. The rest of Fairy Tail had taken over a dining hall. They thought this new other world was cool and in typical Fairy Tail manner had thrown a party and showed off their ability to do magic without instruments. No one mentioned it was due to the pills Jellal gave them and Natsu didn't feel up to correcting them.

He was more concerned about the fact that he wouldn't be returning home. None of them would. How was he supposed to fulfill his promise to Igneel if he wasn't even in Earthland? Unless Acnologia miraculously managed to make his own portal to Edolas, Natsu was stuck here with no way to keep his vow to slay the black dragon.

He had briefly thought about making a new home in Edolas. It was something he could easily do. While the rest of the guild's magic would eventually run out, Natsu would always have access to his magic. Maybe he could learn to imbue lacrimas; that way Edolas' way of life would continue as normal.

The thought hadn't lasted long. Edolas would never be home to him the way Fairy Tail was. And while his guild was here, it wasn't the same. Eventually he and Gajeel and Laxus and Wendy would be the only members of Fairy Tail with magic and he was sure they would come to resent the four dragon slayers. And to be honest, he couldn't stand the idea of living in the same world with a Fairy Tail that was full of cowards. Remorseless, self-absorbed, uncaring, unfeeling cowards with no belief in which they believed in enough to fight.

Natsu did not want to be stranded in a world with a guild that had the same face as his nakama but shared none of the same values.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Erza paced nervously outside the room Natsu had been given. She knew that he wouldn't be resting like he was supposed to. The pink haired dragon slayer had laughed off Wendy's warning that he would be stuck in bed longer if he didn't rest and affirmed that he would be out of bed in an hour.

In a move uncharacteristic of the sweet blue haired girl, Wendy had forced Natsu to sleep while the rest of Fairy Tail gaped at her with dropped jaws. Shy little Wendy who was prone to tears had just taken control and forced Natsu to rest.

It didn't matter that her eyes had immediately filled with tears afterwords and she gave many apologies to the unconscious pink haired man.

Anyway, Erza was worried that Natsu wouldn't want to speak with her. Part of her didn't blame him. When she had pleaded and begged him to save Jellal from going to jail, she had completely disregarded his own feelings for the man, forcing him to rescue a man he loathed because it was what she wished. He had done it, and in doing so she had pushed him away. One action made hastily in thought of the boy she had once known had torn apart what she and Natsu had shared.

A larger part of her thought that he was being unfair. Natsu had always done everything in his power to save his friends. That was all that she had done too. Jellal had once been her friend and she believed that he deserved a second chance. He had been possessed by Zeref, and she had forgiven him for what he had done to her, to Simon, and all the other children that had been trapped on the island. Why couldn't Natsu do the same thing? He wasn't normally one to hold grudges.

Erza hated that he had vanished in the middle of the night. That he had left without speaking to her. That he could even think that she could love anyone more than she loved him. She hated that he didn't trust her. She had listened to him when he explained that he loved her and only her, and would only ever love her due to his dragon instincts. She had understood that she didn't have to feel the same way but she had.

Erza Scarlet knew that she loved Natsu.

And right now she wanted nothing more than to bring out her Fire Empress armor so she could give him the beating he deserved for even thinking that she didn't love him as much as he did her.

But she couldn't do that. If it was only a problem of misunderstood feelings Erza would have stormed in and thoroughly beat some sense into his thick skull. But it wasn't that simple.

She had made the dumbest mistake yesterday. She had accused him of wanting to attack the helpless citizens of Edolas. Erza couldn't even remember why she had said it. She knew that Natsu would never harm an innocent bystander. But all she could think about was how enraged he had been when he learned they were going to kill the rest of Fairy Tail for their own magical gain and feared that he would try to take his anger out on the people that wanted their magic at the cost of his guild.

It was stupid. She knew it was. But she had said it anyway. And Erza knew that he must hate her now.

Erza straightened, throwing off her self-depreciating thoughts as she grasped the door's handle.

There was only one thing she could do now.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu froze.

He had automatically turned to face the door and whoever was entering. He wasn't prepared for it to be Erza that walked through. His heart constricted painfully, reminding him once more just how much he loved her even though she had only caused him pain and suffering recently.

Erza looked the most contrite he had ever seen her. She had chosen to forgo armor, dressed only in her white blouse, blue skirt, and boots. Her chin was pointed at the floor, and she wasn't looking him in the eyes.

"Erza." Natsu didn't know what else to say.

"Hit me." Natsu blinked.

"W-What? Why?"

"I hurt you horribly yesterday. Therefore you deserve to hurt me in return. Punch me, Natsu. I promise I won't move."

The dragon slayer could only stare at her. Not even in surprise. Erza had a nasty tendency to think she deserved to be punished for failing, whether it was somebody else or herself that she had failed. No one had ever taken her up on it. She was human; she was expected to make mistakes. Natsu had always thought it was an odd thing for her to do, but now that he knew about her experience with the Tower of Heaven he understood where it came from.

He didn't approve of it. He thought she was stupid to think she ought to be hit because she screwed up.

"I-no. I can't. I won't hit you!"

"But why not?" The scarlet haired mage had sounded so heartbroken and finally lifted her eyes to meet his. Her brown orbs were teary and shone with pain and hurt.

For the first time in days Natsu reached out to her. One hand gently cupped her face, the other forced her head up.

"Because I love you, Erza. And I would never hurt you." He said softly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Making you think that I could hurt you. For running off. For not staying. For not fighting. For not protecting you."

"Fighting?" she repeated.

"Fighting for you. I should have proved that I was the better mate for you. Instead I left to wallow in agony and caused you pain. And then you got dragged here and I couldn't do anything to save you. I thought that you were dead."

Natsu leaned his forehead against hers. His breath ghosted over her face. Despite the tears that had started rolling down her face, Erza felt her lips pull into a smile.

"I love you." Natsu stated.

"You love me."

"I love you, Erza Scarlet." Natsu repeated.

Erza laughed happily, and a little hysterically after the craziness that had been her life recently, which he took advantage of as he soundly kissed her.

"I love you, too, Natsu Dragneel."

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

The pair joined the rest of Fairy Tail, where Natsu challenged Gray, who had lost most of his clothes, to a drinking contest, which Cana crashed, all the while ignoring the ineffective glare Wendy was giving him for drinking when he should be upstairs resting.

Natsu got completely smashed, kissed Erza at every opportunity, promised to attend Jellal's coronation, beat the pants, which Gray had just found and put on, right off him again, starting a guild wide fight not unlike the one he had caused by his dramatic return from death.

All in all, it was a great night and Natsu enjoyed being with his guild again.

It stopped being fun when he started glowing and was pulled towards the sky.

Natsu was the only one to curse or exclaim as he suddenly found himself floating. The whole of Fairy Tail was surrounded by the yellow light and flew out the window and up into the sky to what looked like another anima.

"Good luck, Natsu."

The pink haired mage looked down and was surprised to see Prince Jellal standing next to a giant black cat that was taller than him with a scar to the side of his left eye and a sword strapped behind his back.

"There was enough magic to reverse the anima and send you back to Earthland." Jellal explained.

Natsu didn't know that he could do that, but was thankful nonetheless.

"Unfortunately it means that there will be no more magic in Edolas, so I'm going to blame it all on you."

Natsu gawked at the smirking prince for a few seconds before laughing uproariously.

Natsu didn't stop laughing even after he slammed into the ground with an "umph." He did stop when Lucy landed on top of him.

"Damn, Lucy! You're heavy!"

The busty blonde leapt off him, screaming insults and insisting that she was not.

Natsu listened with half an ear. It was great to be home.

**AN: Look! No cliffhanger! I can write a chapter without being cruel!**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: DAMN YOU MASHIMA! I want episode 176. Why the hell did you have to stop there? Couldn't you at least finish the Grand Magic Games? Is anyone else annoyed? **

**Lucky for all readers, my annoyance at Mashima has pushed me to write this chapter, which is the longest one yet.**

Life at Fairy Tail returned to normal.

If one ignored the thousands of exceeds.

The Anima had reversed the flow of all magic in Edolas, therefore any being that had magic within them was sent to Earthland. And that included the whole community of flying cats. Thankfully they hadn't hung around long. Natsu loved Happy. Happy was his best friend and his partner, but all of those cats that were flapping around goggling at a new world of magic were driving him insane.

Not to mention Nichiya. Not only did the Exceed look scarily like Ichiya, he acted almost exactly the same. It was as if Ichiya had a twin cat brother and it was damn creepy. Natsu was only stopped from setting his fur on fire when the cat sidled up to his mate and sniffed her by Mirajane.

The freaky cat was as obsessed with perfume and odors as Ichiya was and creeped Erza out as much as his Earthland counterpart did. Natsu paid him back later. No one sniffed his mate and no one upset her either. The next day when all the Exceeds flew off in search of their missing eggs, Nichiya was suspiciously missing all the fur on his tail.

Well, not all the Exceeds left. Pantherlily, who looked really weird small but cute at the same time, had stuck like a magnet to Gajeel. Natsu thought they matched well because they were both insane. At least the Iron Dragon slayer was no longer moping about being the only one without a flying, talking cat.

The Exceeds weren't the most unexpected surprise to Fairy Tail. That was reserved for Lisanna.

Lisanna was Mirajane and Elfman's younger sister. The pinkette had played with her almost every day when he first joined the guild. Together they had found Happy's egg and built a house and pretending to be a family. He, Mira, and Elfman had been devastated when she had died on a job to years ago when Elfman lost control of his Take Over magic. Apparently, the Lisanna of this world had switched places with the Lisanna of Edolas, and they had buried that Lisanna.

But now Lisanna was back. Natsu had talked extensively with Master Makarov and Erza and his life was perfect. Just sitting in the guild, one arm wrapped around his scarlet haired mate, arguing with Gray who still couldn't keep track of his clothes, laughing as Happy enraged Lucy, Natsu could almost forget that he had a life or death mission to deal with.

Lucy gave up fighting with Happy. She dramatically draped herself over the table team Natsu was sharing. "My rent's due this week."

Natsu couldn't hold back a smile. The blonde celestial wizard was always complaining about not making her rent. It was why Team Natsu went on so many jobs.

"And there's no interesting missions. And certainly none large enough to cover my rent."

"So we'll just have to do a lot! It'll be fun, guys. When was the last time we went on a mission?" Gray asked.

"A real job or dealing with Oracion Seis?" Erza returned.

"A real job. Man, we didn't even get paid for taking out one of the three largest dark guilds! That's not cool." Natsu snorted at Gray's pouting.

"It's been weeks." Lucy bemoaned. "At this rate I'll never pay my rent. And then the landlady will kick me out and I'll have nowhere to live. What if I have to sleep in the streets? Or in a tree like Happy?" she shrieked.

"Hey!" Happy cried out, "I don't sleep in trees!"

He was soundly ignored by the four wizards.

Natsu stood, grabbed Lucy by the back of her shirt and lifted her to her feet, expertly dodging her flailing limbs and ignoring her outraged shouts as he manhandled her. "C'mon, Lucy. Let's find you a job! I'm all fired up!"

"Right!" Lucy exclaimed, running to the job board. "How about this one? A wealthy family's prize race horse was stolen."

"By who?"

"Uhm. . . their neighbors?"

"Seriously!?"

"Neighbors with hedges that eat people."

"Too easy. I'd just burn the hedges."

"Natsu, you can't just burn someone else's property."

"Why not? It gets the job done?"

"This job sounds much cooler. A village is being plagued by demons."

"Haven't we done that already? And the humans were really the demons? What kind of a choice was that Gray?"

"Think you could pick a better one, dragon breath?"

"Of course I could, you human icicle. I always pick the best jobs. And dragon breath? That's a terrible insult. My breath is deadly."

"Dangerous does not equal best, Natsu."

"Would you stop scolding me, Erza?"

"When you learn to engage your brain."

"She's right, air head. You never use your brain if you can avoid it."

"You frozen pervert! Take it back!"

"Pervert! I am not a pervert!"

"Gods, Gray, where are your clothes?"

"Why does this keep happening?"

"Because you're a stripper."

"Way to state the obvious, Erza."

"Ow! Why did you hit me you demon? Natsu said it not me."

"Because I told you before to keep your clothes on."

"I'm not doing this on purpose."

"Your clothes can't remove themselves." Erza pointed out.

"Um, aren't we supposed to be selecting a job?"

"Hehe, fish. With a job we could buy lots of fish, Natsu. Do you know if Erza likes fish? I don't think you can date her if she doesn't like fish."

"What? C'mon, Happy. Of course Erza likes fish. But it wouldn't matter if she didn't."

Natsu's declaration earned him a long kiss from the red head, which made Gray roll his eyes and Lucy sigh as Happy started singing.

"Hello, you guys. Job, remember? We have to pay my rent."

"Stop complaining, Lucy. Just pick one already."

"No way. You didn't like my suggestion."

"How about I pick?" Erza asked.

"NO!" the other three shouted.

"Loke luuuuuuurrrrrrveesss Lucy." Happy called, drawing out the middle.

"Shut up you stupid cat! He does not! And how is that even relevant?"

"And you luuuuuurrrrvvveee him too, Lucy."

"I do not! Stop talking about things you don't know anything about." Lucy shook a fist at the cat floating above her.

"This one! This is it."

"What is it? What are you talking about, Natsu?"

"The job. This is the job we're going to take!"

"Why this one? It's not our usual line. Although I admit it is impossible for you to cause destruction in a desert."

"Do you know how funny it would be to see Gray melt?"

"Natsu, you flaming retard! I'm not made of water. That's Juvia."

Juvia popped out of nowhere next to his shoulder. "Gah, Juvia! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Juvia is sorry Gray-sama. Juvia won't do it again. Did you call for Juvia, Gray-sama? Juvia will do whatever Gray-sama wants."

"That's perfect! Just ask Juvia to come with us."

"What?"

"Juvia would love to go anywhere with Gray-sama!"

"The rain follows Juvia wherever she goes. We bring her to the desert and their water issue is solved! Easy money. And you said I never use my brain. What do you say, Juvia?"

"Juvia will do anything to help Gray-sama!"

"Wait a minute! That means we have to split the pay five ways! I won't be able to pay my rent."

The blue haired water wizard gave Lucy a nasty glare and clutched at Gray's arm.

"Six ways!" Happy chirped. "Don't forget about me."

"You're a cat! What do you need money for? I have to pay my rent or I'll get kicked out."

"That's it!" Erza snapped. The rest of Team Natsu and Juvia flinched. "I'm making an executive decision. As the leader of Team Natsu we are doing this job." She ripped off a flyer and held it in front of her.

"Finding lost puppies?" Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Juvia, and Happy chorused.

"I'd rather take the one with the cave monster."

"Yes. Puppies are adorable and every puppy deserves a home. We cannot let helpless animals fend for themselves on the streets like Lucy."

"Hey! I don't live on the streets."

"Yet. You will if you don't pay your rent."

"Natsu!"

"Yes ma'am."

"Shut up."

"Yes, Erza."

"Well, now we know who wears the pants in your relationship. And despite her hundreds of armors, I don't think she actually owns a pair of pants." The ice mage whispered.

Erza swung her sword at Gray. The ground shook violently and it sliced over his hair by less than an inch.

"What's happening?" Lucy screamed.

"MAGNOLIA IS CHANGING INTO GILDARTS SHIFT. ALL TOWNSPEOPLE QUICKLY GET TO YOUR SET POSITION."

"Gildarts is back!" Natsu exclaimed happily.

"Gildarts? Who is he? He's the one doing this?"

"Gildarts is only the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail. He's our Ace. He's even more famous than Erza "Titania" Scarlet." The dragon slayer explained.

"More famous than Erza?"

"Yeah. He's an S-class wizard just like Erza. He's been gone for three years on one of those 100 year missions."

"There are 100 year missions? Do you mean that. . . the task has been going on for 100 years?"

"Not really, they're just missions that are left uncompleted. Their supposed to be really tough and only S-class mages can accept them. They're actually classified as SS-class missions. Nobody ever comes back from one though. It's why they're uncompleted."

"It was probably easy for Gildarts." Happy mused. "He likes obliterating things."

"Obliterating?" Lucy repeated weakly.

"Gildarts uses Crash magic. He needs to keep all his concentration on his magic or he accidentally destroys things. That's why the grounds shaking."

Lucy stared at Erza horrified. "He's destroying the ground?"

"What, no!" Natsu said. "The city's moving for him so he can reach the guild."

"The city's moving?"

"Yep. After Gildarts joined Magnolia used magic to rearrange the town to give him a straight path to the guild so he wouldn't accidentally flatten the city." Happy said cheerfully.

"This guild is crazy," the blonde muttered as the doors were thrown open.

She saw Gildarts for a brief second, a tall and muscular man with shoulder-length reddish orange hair, before Natsu leapt forward with a fist of flames.

"I challenge you, Gildarts!"

Lucy blinked and the man in the doorway had sent her pink haired teammate flying into the guild's ceiling.

"You're as strong as ever, Gildarts! But I've gotten stronger too. And I'm going to show you by beating you right now!"

Gildarts waved him off. "Later, Natsu. I need to speak to the Master. Come to my place later. I have something for you."

With that said, Gildarts crashed through the closest wall of the new guild in search of Markarov.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

"So, how's the relationship with Erza huh?"

Natsu blinked. That's what he wanted to ask? "Rough start, but we've worked things out."

"So you're together? That's great! Tell me all that's happened since I left."

"That was three months ago!"

"I don't care. I won't to know everything."

So Natsu gave Gildarts a recap of the last three months, starting with Oracion Seis, Jellal and his temporarily leaving Fairy Tail to his trip to Edolas and his part in overthrown the crazy king.

"And all the magic was forced to Earthland and Lisanna came back from the dead."

"What?" Gildarts spluttered, wiping off his tea. "Back from the dead? Lisanna? When did, how did she die? How did she come back?"

"Where have you been old man? Didn't you notice her missing at my funeral?"

"Well, yeah, but I thought she was too distraught at the time to come, like Erza." Natsu flinched minutely at the reminder of the catatonic state his apparent death had left his mate in.

"Not that it matters. It turns out she switched places with Edolas Lisanna, but now she's back."

Gildarts was silent for a moment.

"Was that all you wanted?" Natsu stood in preparation to leave.

"Natsu, wait." The spikey pink haired wizard paused in the doorway. "I met a dragon during my mission."

Natsu whipped around. "A dragon."

"I don't think it's the red one you're talking about though. It was black."

"Acnologia."

"Who is Acnologia?"

"The black dragon." Natsu whispered. "I need to find him. Where is he, Gildarts?"

"Zonia Mountain." Gildarts stood, pulling open his black traveling cloak to reveal a wooden arm and leg, and several bandages wrapped around his chest. "But look at this. That beast took my left arm and leg and an organ. He's the reason I failed my quest. You don't have a chance, Natsu."

Natsu shook his head lightly. "I have a better chance than you know, old man." The dragon slayer decided just than to share his mission with Gildarts. It made him feel as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, knowing that someone else knew what he had to do.

Before, Natsu's only reservation to killing the feared Acnologia had been his not wanting to kill a dragon. But after seeing the damage it had dealt to Gildarts, he doubted his ability to beat the King of Dragons. He knew he was much stronger since he had ingested the Etherion and took control of the Tower of Heaven. But not even Gildarts stood a chance against the most feared beast in Fiore. How could he hope to ever kill him?

Gildarts couldn't even give him much advice other than what he knew Acnologia to be capable of from his encounter with the dragon. Still, Natsu reasoned it was better than nothing.

Natsu snuck into Erza's room in Fairy Hills that night. Her bed was much more comfortable than Lucy's, not that he would ever tell her that. He loved annoying her by sneaking into her bed while she was sleeping. But what he really wanted was the comfort of his mate's presence.

Now that he knew where to find Acnologia, he couldn't put off his mission. As the first True Dragon Slayer, it was his responsibility to deal with the Dragon King.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Not even Erza's threats to make him clean every suit of armor she owned could make Natsu calm down.

The S-class wizard promotion trial came once a year. And it was finally here. Every member of Fairy Tail was crowded into the spacious guild hall awaiting the announcement of this year's eight nominees.

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu released a stream of flames into the air.

"The venue for this year's trial is Tenrou island. The holy ground of our guild. This year's eight are:

"Natsu Dragneel."

"Alright. I'm gonna win this thing!"

"Gray Fullbuster."

"The time's finally come."

"Juvia Luxor."

"Eh. Juvia too? Juvia has to compete against Gray-sama!"

"Elfman."

"To be worthy to be called a man, one must become S-class."

"Cana Alberona."

". . ."

"Fried Justine."

"I will take Laxus's place."

"Levy McGarden."

"It's me, finally."

"Great job, Levy!"

"And Mest Gryder."

"He was so close last year."

Nastu's black eyes narrowed on the dark haired man with two scars on the left side of his face. He had never seen this man before. He was definitely not a member of Fairy Tail.

Why was he crashing their promotion trials? What was he doing pretending to be a member of Fairy Tail? And why did everyone seem to think he belonged?

"This year only one will pass." Master Makarov continued. "Within the preliminary period of one week, each of you is to select one partner. It must be a member of Fairy Tail, but it cannot be an S-class mage."

Natsu deflated. He had already envisioned him and Erza taking the test by storm.

"The details of the exam will be revealed once we reach Tenrou Island. But this time Erza will attempt to block you from continuing."

The participants cried out. Not many stood a chance of better the Queen of Fairies. Natsu frowned. He didn't mind fighting Erza, but he didn't want to have to beat her to pass this test. Their fights were serious but fun at the same time. They were more for the purpose of challenging each other to get stronger.

Mirajane raised a hand. "I'll also be a troublemaker this time."

"You mean we have to beat Mira and Erza! Old man, that's impossible." Gray shouted.

"Enough whining." Gildarts said. "This is a path that all S-rank wizards must go down.

"Wait a minute," Elfman twitched.

"No way!" Happy screamed.

"Gildarts is taking part too!"

"Don't be happy about that, flame brain!"

"But this is my chance to beat Gildarts!"

In all the excitement of the S-class promotion trials, the business with Acnologia slipped Natsu's mind. He wouldn't remember the black dragon until a week later.


End file.
